Pitbull Defends Chris Brown Following Rihanna Assault Conviction

During an interview on the Howard Stern Show regarding the artist’s new Sirius XM channel, rapper Pitbull made headlines after answering a question posed to him about his time working with controversial R’n’B performer Chris Brown. The question came following the collaboration of Pitbull and Chris Brown on the rapper’s newest single “Fun.”

As Stern asked if Pitbull had received any criticism for working with Brown following his Rihanna situation, he explained that not only did he not receive any negative comments regarding the collaboration, but that Chris Brown is a “good kid” who simply needed to make some “tweaks” in his life. Pitbull emphasised that he believed Chris was “phenomenally talented” and had been moving his life in the right direction.

“Any time we’re at awards shows together, it’s always a pleasure. And he, I’m telling you, he’s a good kid, good heart”

The comments are a harrowing follow up to Chris Brown’s conviction six years ago for violently assaulting Rihanna, his then girlfriend. Brown’s story went viral globally as fans of both artists alike were left reeling from the news of the dispute. The celebrity couple reportedly got into an argument in Rihanna’s car following the 2009 Grammy’s pre-party – the fight became physical and resulted in the songstress and model being rushed to hospital with cuts, bruises, and severe swelling to her face.

Stern pressed Pitbull further on the topic, directly raising the issue of the conviction. Pitbull appeared to defend Chris Brown’s actions further, describing how Brown had grown up seeing his mother the victim of domestic violence herself, an element of his childhood that Chris struggled to shake.

“Growing up around the neighbourhoods we grew up in, everybody had that kind of situation. So to me it’s normal.”

Rihanna and Chris Brown reportedly reconciled many times since 2009 when Brown received his conviction, however, the reputation garnered by the singer following the incident has yet to leave his side. Domestic violence and abusive relationships are an unfortunate and crushing reality all too familiar to millions of men and women online, making Chris Brown’s history difficult for many to forgive.

After opening up about the incident in 2013 on the Today Show during an interview with host Matt Lauer, Brown insists he sees the error of his ways and has changed for good following a 52 week domestic violence counselling course.

“I think it is just proving myself once again and me being a man. Knowing what I did was wrong and never doing it again”

[Image Credit: Ethan Miller via Getty Images]