Kelly Rowland was NOT having any disrespect at the American Music Awards.
The singer / actress was on hand to present the award for Favorite Male R&B Artist when she had to check some unruly fans. Apparently some in the audience weren’t too excited when Chris Brown was announced as the winner.
“Excuse me — chill out,” Rowland scolded, sternly pointing a finger at the rowdy crowd. She then continued: “But I wanted to tell Chris, Thank you so much for making great R&B music. I want to tell him, thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award and give it to you. I love you!”
Brown was not only expected to attend Sunday’s AMAs, but also perform a tribute to Michael Jackson in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s landmark Thriller album.
Brown was a no-show at Sunday’s AMAs, presumably in protest after the AMA’s made a last minute decision to can his performance. The decision was unbeknownst to Brown who took to Instagram Saturday morning to express his discontent.
“U SERIOUS?” The “No Guidance” singer captioned a seven minute reel of his AMA performance rehearsal.“WOULDVE been the ama performance but they canceled me for reasons unknown,” Brown continued in the comments.
In the rehearsal clip, Brown begins the performance seated as he and dancers grind through choreo for his latest single, “Under The Influence.” The music breaks soon after and the energy heightens as Brown and others dance to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” and “Thriller.”
This month marks the 40th anniversary of the “Thriller” album, and with thousands of fans in agreement that Chris Brown is the best pick for a Michael Jackson tribute, many are stunned to learn of the cancellation, and are equally puzzled by the decision to pull the performance the day before the AMAs are set to air.
Mega producer Jermaine Dupree also took to Instagram to air his thoughts following the news of the pulled performance.
“If the American Music Awards canceled the Chris Brown performance, then that means they canceled the 40th anniversary of “Thriller,” which means they canceled the Michael Jackson tribute. Black music we in trouble.”
The Game took to social media to denounce the AMA’s and said Black artists should have boycotted after they cancelled Brown’s performance.
