Brett Simon thought that when Chris Brown beat up then-girlfriend Rhianna right before the 2009 Grammys, that the victim was Rhianna herself. You know, the person with all the bruises.
But then he heard: Grammy Executive Producer Ken Ehrlich thinks that the awards show was the victim “of what happened.”
“I think people deserve a second chance, you know,” Ehrlich said. “If you’ll note, he has not been on the Grammys for the past few years and it may have taken us a while to kind of get over the fact that we were the victim of what happened.” When Brett saw that Chris Brown was back performing on the prestigious show last night, while still on probation for the domestic assault, he was upset. When he heard that the Grammys thought they were the real victims, he really had to do something. That’s when Brett started a Change.org petition demanding an apology.
Ehrlich’s statement suggests that Brown was barred from the awards show not as a consequence of physically harming his girlfriend, another Grammy performer, but because the Grammys were upset with him for — what? making them scramble to find replacement performers with Rhianna healing and Brown under arrest?
“I started this petition because I realized that something was not right in this country when women beg to be beaten by someone just because he is a good looking Grammy winning performer,” Brett explained, commenting on a slew of “Chris Brown can beat me” tweets. “Those tweets along with Grammy producer Ken Ehrlich’s comment insinuating that he and the Grammys were the victims of Chris Brown’s abusive behavior are proof of a disconnect between society and the reality of domestic violence. The Recording Academy, the Grammys, and Ken Ehrlich need to demonstrate to the public that they understand that domestic violence is not something to be ignored, tolerated, and rewarded.”