Chris Brown and Usher were handed legislative honors during Saturday’s R&B Tour stop at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. By Monday, Texas state Rep. Venton Jones was on The Don Lemon Show apologizing for it, telling viewers he never meant to“stoke the traumas”connected to Brown’s 2009 assault case involving Rihanna, which ended in a guilty plea, five years’probation, and community service.
Brown didn’t let that sit. He posted an Instagram Story saying,“Y’all came to me with this, not the other way around. I was minding my damn business.”He also noted his Dallas shows were already sold out, dismissing the honor as unnecessary, and suggested the apology was really about keeping voters onside.
So now the internet is split: should elected officials be honoring artists whose pasts are still part of an active public conversation, and does walking it back two days later actually accomplish anything? Meanwhile the 59-date R&B Tour keeps rolling, with a Friday stop in Las Vegas before SoFi Stadium. Usher, for the record, has stayed completely silent.
Where do you land: should the rep have apologized, or should he have stood by the honor?
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.