Kelly Rowland is facing some serious heat from fans. The drama started when she presented Chris Brown with the award for Favorite Male R&B Artist at the American Music Awards over the weekend. While he wasn’t there to collect it in person, the audience booed wildly — as Brown has a documented history of assault. Rowland came to the musician’s defense, telling the crowd, “Excuse me, chill out.”
“I want to tell Chris, thank you so much for making great R&B music, and I want to tell him, thank you for being an incredible performer,” she continued, following the tension. “I’ll take this award and bring it to you — I love you. Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”
Kelly Rowland puts the #AMAs audience in check after negative reaction to Chris Brown winning ‘Favorite Male R&B Artist.’ https://t.co/A5M053eiyC
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 21, 2022
Brown’s absence from the show came just days after the cancellation of his Michael Jackson tribute. He posted a heated video on Instagram calling it “for reasons unknown.” The songs chosen from the rehearsal clip include a medley of Brown’s own “Under The Influence” into Jackson’s “Beat It.”
In the days after the AMA’s, it seems Rowland is sticking by the words in her speech. Yesterday, she spoke to TMZ about why she offered Brown “grace.”
“I believe that grace is very real,” Rowland said. “And we all need a dose of it. And before we point fingers at anybody, we should realize how grateful we are for every moment that we get. Even our own things that we have. I just think it’s important to remember to be human. We are humans.”
“We all need to be forgiven for anything that we could be doing. Anything that we’re thinking,” she continued. “We all come up short in some kind of way. And grace is real. We are humans. And everybody deserves grace.”