Chris Brown On 'Larry King': Domestic-Violence Experts Weigh In

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Chris Brown On 'Larry King': Domestic-Violence Experts Weigh In

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1620772/20090903/brown__chris__18_.jhtml

'It seems to me that Chris Brown is in a mind-set where he is not inclined to change his behavior,' Terry O'Neill, president of NOW, says.

By Gil Kaufman



In his first televised interview since his assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna in February, singer Chris Brown told CNN's Larry King on Wednesday that the incident was "probably one of the worst moments of my life." While the singer repeatedly declined to describe what happened on the morning of February 8 when police say he beat, choked, bit and threatened to kill Rihanna, he did reiterate his wish that he could have "handled" the situation differently.

Brown made allusions to the possibility that the infamous photo of a bruised and battered Rihanna could have been "altered" and tried to explain his actions by offering, "We're both young, nobody taught us how to love one another. No one taught us a book on how to control our emotions, our anger." For domestic-violence experts, those comments and several others Brown, 20, made during the interview were potential signals that the singer has not grasped the complexity and seriousness of the felony assault charge to which he pleaded guilty and received five years' probation and six months of community labor.

In a statement released Thursday morning (September 2), Terry O'Neill, president of the National Organization for Women and a domestic-violence survivor herself, said Brown's declaration that he's still in shock over the assault is evidence that he's in denial about his actions. "It's all too common for offenders to claim that they are 'not the kind of person who would do such a thing,' " she said, alluding to comments by both Brown and his mother, Joyce Hawkins, about how allegedly out of character the violent assault was.

"But when we allow them to evade responsibility by redefining themselves in this way, we trivialize their crimes and jeopardize their victims' ability to heal and stay safe. The fact is that Chris Brown committed a vicious assault and thus, by definition, he is that kind of person. We do Rihanna and all survivors of intimate-partner violence a grave disservice by buying into his 'non-denial denial.' I for one am not convinced."

[MinneapolisMatt]

1. Is it wrong...

..that I want to rip that bow-tie off of his neck?

In a non-violent way, of course.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. And yet, he chose not to wear the bowtie on the night of his sentencing:

Chris Brown Sentenced to Wild Night of Partying

Posted Aug 26th 2009 2:25PM by TMZ Staff



Hours after his sentencing and the release of the disturbingly graphic blow-by-blow of his assault on Rihanna, Chris Brown showed his remorse to the world -- by living it up at a Hollywood nightclub.

http://www.tmz.com/2009/08/26/chris-brown-club-party-sentencing-assault-rihanna-photo/

Surrounded by women, Brown appeared to be drawing a lot of attention to himself last night inside Guys and Dolls.

In the probation report released by the court, Brown said he was "depressed" after the Rihanna incident -- he sure didn't look depressed last night.

[Metric System]

3. What was the point of dressing like a little kid attending church?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

4. He wanted to show the American television-viewing public his deep, deep remorse...

...unlike the remorse he showed on the night of his sentencing (see above)...