Chris Brown has been no stranger to criticism over his nearly 20-year career, but the latest set of accusations he’s fielding may be a first.
The GRAMMY-winning singer, currently rocking stages on the European leg of his ‘Under the Influence’ tour, saw unusual movement of his actual legs catch the attention of a noted disability activist who has taken to the Web to assert “outrage” should ensue as a result of Brown’s gestures.
Details inside.
Taking to his official Instagram this week, Brown uploaded footage of himself trying to dodge overzealous fans (affectionately called #TeamBreezy) by walking with a pronounced limp.
“I tried to be slick walking to the merchandise booth,” he captioned the short video. “Fans caught me so I had to hit my walk on em.”
The clip managed to be viewed by Brett Leverton, a self-proclaimed “disability ambassador” who found Breezy’s actions offensive.
Taking to Twitter and LinkedIn Friday (March 3), Leverton uploaded the CB video alongside a lengthy caption explaining why the public should be outraged by it.
“Disappointed last night to log in to Instagram to see Chris Brown casually imitating/mocking people with physical impairments/disability and thinking its ok,” he started the post. “I hope this gets the same outrage and energy towards it as it would if it was discrimination of any other kind.”
Going on to suggest the R&B star’s behavior could wield a negative influence on his 113 million Instagram followers, Leverton concluded his post by inferring Brown should be particularly sensitive to discriminatory behavior given that he’s claimed to be on the receiving end of it himself.
“In the modern world where discrimination is tolerated less and less, why would someone who knows firsthand what it feels like to face discrimination go and do the same behavior to another minority group?” Brett questioned.
-photo: Brett Leverton
Once #TeamBreezy got wind of Leverton’s comments, their collective responses were so brutal it led the man to make his Twitter account private.
Ouch! See highlights below.
At writing, Chris has not responded to the hoopla.