Celebrities Are People Too: It's Time For Chris Brown to Wake Up & Take Responsibility

As a radio professional, it is so important to stay on top of current events and news.  Unfortunatly, like most of the U.S., pop culture news is so much easier to digest and have an opinion on than hard news like the fact it is ELECTION DAY!  I partially blame the music business for writing songs that only have :05-:10 second introductions.  These are what we call in the radio biz “talk-overs” or “up ramps.”  When a talented and up-to-date radio professional only gets 5 or 10 seconds to share a story that has truly affected them and elaborate, it tends to be easier and more time efficient to comment of Brangelina’s brood, Renee Zellweger’s face lift, or Drew’s second baby.

Even with fluff stories of Tinseltown, it is easier to celebrate the fun things like babies on the way and scrutinize those that are different or weird (enter Miley Cyrus).  But, while we comment on Tinseltown’s wild and crazy, sometimes the follow up stories get lost.  Take Chris Brown for example; most people only know that in 2009 he committed serious domestic violence against then girlfriend Rihanna.  He has been on probation for that incident ever since and working to clear his name by doing community service and publicly apologizing.  More recently, he was accused of punching a man in the face in Washington D.C. when the man tried to photo bomb Chris and another fan. He has since checked himself into rehab for "anger issues" which is another story and a joke in and of itself which I'll address another time.  I’ve heard debates about Chris Brown and his behavior including Jenny McCarthy on The View discuss how people like Chris Brown (or remember O.J. Simpson) should get pardoned for some behaviors because of how talented they are and look to the body of work they have produced.

Are you kidding me???  I have always been a strong believer that entertainers who are adults with an above average pre-teen and teenage following have a responsibility to act decent and morally.  Now, if Justin Beiber doesn’t want any more young lady fans, then sure continue to act like a punk and see if they still like you then.  Celebrity or not, punishment should fit the crime.  If I were to domestically abuse my husband, but then plea that the judge should look at my entire body of work in the radio industry to help judge my character and allow me to be pardoned for a serious crime, Your Honor would laugh in my face and probably double the fines for my ignorance.

Chris Brown is talented.  The man is also incredibly young.  It will take time for the American people to completely trust him and unconditionally love his music again, especially since Rihanna was, and still is such a powerhouse in pop music.  Michael Vick had to endure a similar long process.  After his dog fighting charges, he served his time in jail, hired a great PR team, publicly apologized, goes on tour to talk about how what he did was wrong and why, and then came back to the NFL.  If the NFL can forgive, then heck, so can I.  Michael Vick, however, owned up to his actions, served his time (without much public complaint) and is working to become the trusted player he once was.

The point is, celebrities are just people. (I use this tactic when interviewing big stars on the air).  They are people who are easy to scrutinize because they are so public.  We compare everything they do to how we act.  They are people, nonetheless, with moms and families, so to think that because Chris Brown is talented in his work that he should be pardoned because he contributes to pop culture more than you, Jenny McCarthy or I do is outrageous.  If this were the case,  then everyone would have some sort of great body of work; “Oh but I have straight A’s this semester,” or “But, I helped unclog 50 drains last week, officer.”  They are just people who make mistakes, like me, but with a bigger platform to share their talents, which does not make them better people, just people with more fans who enjoy their work.  Celebrities just make mistakes on that bigger platform, judged by us all, and should have to take responsibility for their actions because that’s the way the world works. For everyone.