According to HotNewHipHop.com, the “With You” singer posed for photos with fans who paid a hefty sum. When the images started making the rounds on social media, people were quick to slam the price tag.
“I don’t know how people be so gone off celebs, like paying $1,000 for Chris Brown? That’s insane,” one Twitter user wrote. Another added: “So women are paying $1,000 to take pictures with Chris Brown? What [a] waste of hard earned money. Some of you been brainwashed and don’t realize it.”
A third chimed in: “I can’t think of a bigger waste of money than to pay $1,000 to meet Chris Brown.”
Others, however, couldn’t help but crack jokes.
“Chris Brown would’ve had to escort me out cause for $1,000, boy we finna take this picture naked,” social media influencer K’Hood tweeted.
Someone else said: “Those Chris Brown pictures are hilarious. lmao he making the meet n greet worth it for his fans though cause most artists gon give you a straight face and peace sign pic.”
Several celebrities defended the Brown.
“$1,000 for a lifelong memory/moment ain’t bad,” rapper Yung Bleu posted on his Twitter account. “Y’all ain’t gone have no memories when y’all get old only thing y’all gone remember is paying bills.”
Love and Hip Hop’s Masika Kalysha added: “Bro I freaking love all this pics from Chris Browns meet and greet,” she shared. “People spent good money and he did wtf needed to be done. Everyone looks happy including Chris. More artists/celebs should be this carefree. Give your fans a personal experience. Love to see it.”
Fans were able to get up close and personal with the star, who posed prom-style and offered up hugs. He even seemingly obliged when one woman put her legs around him.
Brown has a loyal, even protective fanbase, despite his troubled past. In 2009, he pleaded guilty to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna after an argument about another woman. He was placed on probation for five years and ordered to serve 1,000 hours of community service.
Then, in 2013, he was charged with a misdemeanor hit-and-run and driving without a valid license following a car crash in Los Angeles. The case was eventually dropped.
In the years that followed, ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran was granted a restraining order against Brown. She claimed he had threatened her in a series of violent texts, one of which allegedly read: “B****, I will beat the s**** out of you.”
He also faced rape accusations in January 2019, which were later dropped, and is currently under investigation by the LAPD after being accused of hitting a woman during an alleged altercation at his home.
“It is an interesting phenomenon when celebrity kind of trumps bad behavior,” Holly Johnson, a professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa who studies violence against women told the National Post. “We see it with all kinds of men who are charged with rape, probably even more so than partner violence.”
Despite his legal fees, Celebrity Net Worth estimates the Grammy Award winner is worth a whopping $50 million.
Brown is currently on tour with Lil Baby through October and has upcoming shows in New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, Texas, California, Toronto and more.
Newsweek has reached out to Brown’s representative for comment.
