That is more or less all Chris Brown could say in this teaser of his Larry King interview when discussing his feelings about attacking his ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
It's like he completely disconnects himself from that person who did what he can't even publicly say he did. Tracy from Broadsheet hits the nail on the head in her sum-up of what this guest appearance seems to be: convincing the public that he is a good boy who would never do such a thing, that he still loves Rihanna and doesn't even remember brutalizing and threatening to kill her (despite prior incidences), and in other words, he's talking the same talk most abusers do but imploring America - not Rihanna - to forgive him.
Ugh.
UPDATE: A reader alerted us to Brown clarifying that he does, in fact, remember the attack.
Approximate transcript after the jump.
Larry King: When you hear about all the things that the police and the reports said you did, how do you react to that?
Chris Brown: I just look at it, like, wow, like I'm in shock because first of all, that's not who I am as a person and that's not who I promise I want to be so I just look at the police reports or I hear about the police reports, I don't know what to think. I just don't know what to think. It's just, like, wow.
Larry King: Do you remember doing it?
Chris Brown: (Pauses) No...
Larry King: You don't remember doing it?
Chris Brown: I don't, I don't, it's like, crazy to me, I'm like wow.
Larry King: What did he say to you, Joyce, when this happened? The first time you spoke to your son?
Joyce Hawkins: He came and he actually spoke to me about what happened and I was totally shocked, totally upset about the whole situation because I knew that Chris has never ever been a violent person. Ever. I mean throughout the entire time through high school, I've never been called for that...never.
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STFU, Chris Brown, you little weakass boy. Be a REAL MAN and face the facts. You're a woman-beating asshole, dude.
I'm so glad Rihanna dumped his worthless ass.
Let's see.
It's not just that he's not getting counseling.
It's not just that he hasn't apologized (and no, "I'm sorry if some of you were offended by what I did but you need to forgive me RIGHT NOW" is not an apology).
It's the complete denial that he did anything wrong in the first place, that it happened in some space outside of him, that it's not "who he is," (and by implication, that Rhianna must have "done something to deserve it because he wouldn't have done it otherwise).
This guy doesn't deserve a public forum. All he's going to do is be another justification for spousal abuse. In the words of Bill O'Reilly, CUT HIS MIC!
I read this whole thing yesterday and it BEYOND pissed me off. I can't even formulate words it makes me so angry.
CHRIS BROWN GO AWAY! AMERICA OWES YOU NOTHING!
For the sake of full reporting, Brown released a statement saying he does, in fact, remember:
http://news-briefs.ew.com/2009/08/31/chris-brown-says-he-does-remember-hitting-rihanna/
Which is still full of BS when he claims he's never done anything like this before, because his sentencing report made note of two prior violent incidents.
Oh but now it's Larry King's fault because the interview was hard!
He kept asking the same thing over and over! I just got confused is all. It's all such a blur...the "mistake" and the interview. I'm not a violent person...just when it comes to women, you know. They've got to know their place. It only happened that one time. And those other times...can't we just move on and look at my cute little blue bow tie?
Yeah, really. A light blue sweater and a little blue bow tie? I kept thinking they were trying to make him look young and innocent.
I know, right? Every time he opens his mouth he just digs himself in deeper and spreads the blame a little bit more.
It kind of astounds me that there isn't anyone in his camp who's saying, "Let's just shut the fuck up, no good can come from this."
And the thing that annoys me too is Larry King is KNOWN as being possibly the easiest celeb interviewer on television. That's why so many go there when they've done something wrong because they know they'll just face softball questions and basically be able to just tell their own story. And yet still, Brown is saying this crap.
The problem is he's speaking not to feminists, but to the majority of the public who think, or believe, or even fear, that it's OK for men to hit women when women "ask for it." His ploy is aimed at a misogynist culture, not us. It'll work just fine on them, too.
Unfortunately for me, most of the people I know are definitely NOT feminists. However they do agree that Chris Brown just needs to shut up, he's an asshat and what he's saying isn't helping (although a lot of those same people believe that Rihanna is partly to blame as well and is stupid for staying with him in the beginning and all that jazz, but they're still not "forgiving" Chris or anything either).
Why are shows even giving him airtime? I mean, they are giving an abuser free publicity! He deserves to be forgotten, not given a free shout-out by TV talk shows.
Joan
Well I'm pretty sure Oprah did refuse to let him on her show.
You just have to love it when I guy like Chris Brown says something like, "that's just not who I am as a person." Really? Because I think that's EXACTLY who you are. ick.
For years I've been trying to understand my ex-husband's denial of the abuse. Weren't we in the same room? Didn't we experience the same event? Yet when he told a friend I had given him this poem about abuse and said "Tapati thinks I'm, like, one of those wife beaters or something."
Yeah. I do. Perhaps it was the many blows to my head, or the choking while having my head rammed into the floor, all while pregnant. Was I mistaken?
I can understand being shocked that you were capable of such behavior. Anyone who behaves that way SHOULD be shocked. But I am continually amazed at the capacity to rationalize, shift blame, dissociate and just plain forget that abusers have manifested over the years. I guess that's the way they manage to salvage their self esteem and live with themselves. But wouldn't it be better for them and the people in their lives if they faced up to it, got help, and made amends wherever possible? That would enable them to gain true self esteem, not a false esteem based on a lie.
Chris Brown is cheating himself if he doesn't truly face himself and recognize that the capacity for this violence truly is within him, part of him, and something that can be dealt with only by hard work and unflinching honesty.
I get just a little tired about how this site only talks about young black men when it demonizing hip hop and Chris.
Well, my abuser was Caucasian. There's certainly no shortage of abusers from every racial and ethnic group as well as every socioeconomic class and religion.
Mine too!!! Believe me if Chris Brown were any other race I would still feel the same way. It has nothing to do with race, it has to do with his actions.
First of all that comment is completely false. The ONLY time young black men are talked about? Really? You sure you want to make a claim like that before maybe doing even a quick site search?
Secondly, is Feministing just supposed to ignore this because Chris Brown is a young black man? That's not going to do anybody any good.
I stand by what I said.
You can stand by it all you want, that doesn't make it factual. Try looking up Sean Bell and Oscar Grant. Their stories had nothing to do with hip hop or Chris Brown. Or if you're just talking about negative stories involving black men try Lovell Mixon. Also devoid of hip hop or Chris Brown talk.
And Jena six.
and "Still Black" for young black trans men
Damn let's go back to Emmett Till
He doesn't even mention her name. She was just a boxing bag. I also hate how he's making this so public obviously so he can get his career back on track. He doesn't care what all his media whoring is doing to Rhianna.
And nice bowtie, asshole.
Alright I admit I'm wrong Feministingonly castigates young black men in every story but three a decade.