Fast Fallout: Chris Brown Ads, Music Pulled
Singer's ads have been suspended; songs pulled from radio after alleged beating.
Feb. 11, 2009 — -- With a felony domestic abuse charge hanging over Chris Brown's head and rumors about him beating pop star Rihanna running rampant, advertisers and radio stations are backing away from the R&B singer.
The 19-year-old's "Got Milk" ad campaign will end this week.
"The Milk Mustache campaign is taking the allegations against Chris Brown very seriously," the company said in a statement. "We are very proud and protective of the image of the Milk Mustache campaign and the responsible message it sends to teens. Mr. Brown's ad was launched last fall and is scheduled to end this week."
Radio stations in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have pulled Brown's music in light of the abuse allegations. Radio host Java Joel of Cleveland's 96.5 WAKS-FM said he stopped airing the songs Monday when outraged listeners called to criticize Brown, according to the station's Web site.
Though officials refuse to confirm whether Brown's pop superstar girlfriend Rihanna, 20, is the accuser in the domestic abuse case, the two reportedly fought over a text message Saturday night.
"He got a booty call. He got a text," an unnamed source told the New York Daily News. "Rihanna saw it and she got upset. They started to argue. She got out of the car. He wanted her to get back in, so he grabbed her. She pulled away. That's when she's told people he hit her."
Now, members of the hip-hop world and Hollywood are rallying around the stars.
"I was completely devastated by the concept of what I heard," Kanye West said Tuesday on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show. "Rihanna is so important to our culture ... to pop music. ... Her taste level and her age. ... She has the potential to be the greatest artist of all time."
"In that sense, I feel like that's my baby sis," West said. "I would do any and everything to help her in any situation."
Actor Terrence Howard came to Brown's defense Tuesday, telling Hollywood.tv, "Chris is a great guy. He'll be all right. And Rihanna knows he loves her."
Rapper T.I., who is set to begin a yearlong jail sentence for federal weapons charges next month, told "Last Call's" Carson Daly that he spoke with Brown Monday and that the singer's "cool."
"He cool, you know. I guess he a little concerned about the situation, but he's still the same Chris," T.I. said. "I told him this too shall pass."
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