Sparks, who collaborated with Brown on the 2008 track ‘No Air’, said the awards body “shouldn’t have cancelled the performance”, which would’ve seen Brown pay tribute to Michael Jackson.
Jordin Sparks joined Kelly Rowland in defending Chris Brown after the singer was booed by the audience at the American Music Awards.
Sparks, who collaborated with Brown on the 2008 duet “No Air,” told TMZ on Tuesday (November 22) that she “loves Chris” and thinks “he should have been” at the awards ceremony, which took place in Los Angeles. The Angeles Microsoft Theater earlier this month.
“People deserve to be able to grow, learn and be able to live their lives without being overhung,” Sparks said, before stating that “everyone deserves it, especially him.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Sparks discussed the cancellation of Brown’s expected performance at the AMA, where he is said to have performed a tribute set for Michael Jackson. A few days before the ceremony at which Brown won the AMA Award in the category “Favorite R&B Artist among Men,” the singer said on Instagram that the award had canceled the award “for unknown reasons.”
Referring to the stripped-down performance, Sparks said, “They just shouldn’t have canceled the performance. That’s how I feel about it.” The singer went on to discuss Brown’s past controversies, including his much-publicized domestic violence case involving ex-girlfriend Rihanna, saying, “Honestly, I think it shouldn’t even be a conversation. It’s about his talent.”
In addition to the domestic violence case that took place in 2009, Brown has faced multiple court battles in recent years, including potential jail time for owning a pet monkey and a lawsuit over an alleged dog attack on his housekeeper. Last year, Brown was reportedly under police investigation for allegedly beating a woman, charges that were later dropped due to “insufficient evidence.”
Sparks’ defense comes days after Rowland’s defense, who, while accepting Brown’s AMA on his behalf, responded to the booing of the audience by saying, “Sorry. Relax.” Rowland doubled down on her defense of the singer this week, telling TMZ that “before we point the finger at anyone, we need to understand how grateful we are for every moment we have… everyone deserves mercy, period.”
Sparks is the latest musician who has recently defended his relationship with the controversial singer. In July of this year, Joey Bada$$ supported his decision to collaborate with Brown on the 2022 track “Welcome Back”, saying at the time that “people make mistakes.” Justin Beiber echoed these sentiments in 2019, writing in an Instagram post that Brown’s talent is “being overlooked… because of a mistake he made.”
