Kelly Rowland defended Chris Brown as the audience booed him for winning a prize at the American Music Awards on Sunday.
The Destiny’s Child singer accepted the Favorite Male R&B Artist trophy on Brown’s behalf and told the crowd to “chill out” after several members of the audience booed and shouted about his win.
“Chris Brown is not here tonight, so I’m accepting this award on his behalf. Excuse me, chill out,” she said, before continuing her speech. “But I want to tell Chris, thank you so much for making great music, and I want to tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award and bring it to you, I love you! Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”
Brown remains a controversial figure in the music industry 13 years after he assaulted his then-girlfriend Rihanna before the 2009 Grammy Awards.
A day before the AMAs ceremony, Brown revealed that he had been due to perform a tribute to Michael Jackson at the show but it had been axed “for reasons unknown”. He posted a video showing him and his dancers performing the tribute – featuring a medley of Beat It, Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’, Billie Jean and Thriller – in a rehearsal space.
A representative for Dick Clark Productions, which produces the AMAs, told Puck about the cancelled performance: “Live shows change all the time, it’s the nature of this business. Unfortunately, this element of the AMAs didn’t come together as we couldn’t align on the performance, to no fault of Chris Brown.”
The 2022 AMAs took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.