During Sunday night’s Grammy Awards show, a lot of attention was given to the issue of domestic violence. Activist, survivor and writer Brooke Axtell, performed a spoken word piece, which then led into Katy Perry’s performance of “By the Grace of God.” Before that, President Barack Obama delivered a public service announcement promoting the “It’s On Us” campaign which aims at raising awareness of and putting an end to sexual violence.
Alex Gaskarth, guitarist for pop punk band All Time Low, was among the many Twitter users who noted the incongruity of speaking out against violence during an awards show where known abusers such as Chris Brown and R. Kelly were in attendance.
Using the #ItsOnUs hashtag and tagging Brown, Gaskarth shared his thoughts in the following tweets:
Not one to shy away from arguing on Twitter, Brown replied with this:
Within minutes, the tweet was deleted but not before Gaskarth saw it. He tweeted this reply:
Fans of Chris Brown were, as always, quick to point out that everyone makes mistakes and that Brown is often singled out for his and rarely offered forgiveness by the general public. Several people also pointed out that Brown was certainly not the only celebrity with a history of abuse to attend the Grammys.
Gaskarth did admit in one last tweet that perhaps it wasn’t fair to single out Chris Brown.
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Brown’s appearance at the Grammys has been the center of controversy. Many were outraged when Brown was invited to perform at the awards show just a few years after his notorious assault on then-girlfriend, Rihanna in 2009. Coincidentally, Brown only recently completed the community service he was ordered to do as part of his sentencing from the assault.
What are your thoughts? Is Chris Brown being treated unfairly? Should his behavior have earned him a lifetime ban on attending the Grammys?
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