Kelly Rowland was not here for people booing Chris Brown during the 2022 American Music Awards.
While serving as the presenter for the Favorite Male R&B Artist honor during the ceremony on Sunday (Nov. 20), Rowland revealed the Virginia native won in the category, which featured fellow nominees Lucky Daye, Giveon, The Weeknd, and Brent Faiyaz. Once she realized the audience’s negative reaction, Rowland quickly addressed the situation. “Now Chris Brown is not here tonight, so I’m accepting this award on his behalf,” said the “Kisses Down Low” singer. At one point, she even told them to “chill out.”
“I want to tell Chris thank you so much for making great R&B music,” Rowland continued. “And I want to tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award [and] bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations. And congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”
Watch her accepting the award below.
Kelly Rowland said you ain’t gonna cut me off Chris Brown needs his flowers pic.twitter.com/bCzAfzqIxx
— Ahmed/The Ears 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) November 21, 2022
The win comes on the heels of a previous report where Brown alleged his American Music Awards Michael Jackson tribute was scrapped out of the blue. He shared the news via social media with a clip of rehearsal footage. “You serious?” said Brown in the Instagram caption. “Would’ve been the AMA performance, but they canceled me for reasons unknown.”
Check out the video below.
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The “Call Me Every Day” crooner has never shied away from expressing his admiration for the late legend. In fact, Brown’s artistry has even been compared to Jackson’s, however, he shut down the chatter. “My personal take on it is that I wouldn’t be breathing or be able to sing a song if that man didn’t exist,” said Brown in a recent interview. “I don’t know if they look at it as a [Micheal] Jordan and Kobe [Bryant] thing, but I can’t even look at it. He’s light-years ahead.”