What do you guys think of Chris Brown after he threatened a woman with a gun?

[Alex K]

I don't know guys... was either of them wearing a burqa?

[Huggy Bear]

I give the same 0 fucks as I did before.

Apparently not...

[Little lunch]

If it's true, I think Chris Brown should choose better friends.

[KevinM1]

I give the same 0 fucks as I did before.

Apparently not...

Why, because I posted in this thread?

The first time was to explain my feelings on celebrity 'news'. The second time was to reiterate my stance in light of the new info you provided. The third - now - is to further clarify.

I do not care about Chris Brown. I care so little, I actually thought it was Bobby Brown. He's only taking up brain space due to cultural osmosis when everyone was in a tizzy because his daughter ODed and died. I know of them, to various degrees, but that's about it.

Now, let me be very clear: while I don't care about individual celebrities or stories like this, I actively loathe meaningless gossip-as-news and our culture's insatiable hunger for it. I'm an avid sports fan and gamer, but there's a difference. I decide when I want to partake in those activities. I find basketball boring, so I ignore it. Outside of transcendent individuals (Lebron, Curry), I couldn't tell you anything about the sport. I don't even know anything about the Celtics, my home team. And that's how I like it. But with celebrity bullshit, it's everywhere. Everyone talks about it and keeps up with it like there's going to be a pop quiz. As much as I try to escape and ignore it, it seeps in. And it pisses me off because it's such a transparently cynical and manufactured distraction, and people gobble it up.

[Huggy Bear]

While you may not give many f**ks, the number of f**ks is definitely not zero, you've shown by taking the time to post that you give atleast one f**k.

Also a person being arrested due to false allegations IS newsworthy, celebrity or not, especially when the false allegations involve a gun.

Do I need to explain to you how dangerous that situation is for a black man?

[Little lunch]

I totally agree with you Huggy.

[RobertE]

While you may not give many f**ks, the number of f**ks is definitely not zero, you've shown by taking the time to post that you give atleast one f**k.

Also a person being arrested due to false allegations IS newsworthy, celebrity or not, especially when the false allegations involve a gun.

Do I need to explain to you how dangerous that situation is for a black man?

There would be only two possibilities:

1. If it was a white policewoman, he would hit her which is normal to him. 
2. If it was a white policeman, he would claim police brutality and racism, to deflect his own cowardly actions because he can only hit women.

[KevinM1]

People get arrested for false allegations all the time. Yes, with allegations revolving around gun ownership and/or threats. It's a fairly common game in my neck of the woods, usually done as revenge for breakups, divorces, child custody fights, and child support disagreements. It's right up there with sicicng family services on someone for the same BS reasons, and thus barely newsworthy.

The reason why it's getting attention is because of Brown's celebrity status. If this happened with some random dude from Cleveland, or Chicago, or LA, it wouldn't even be a blip nationally, and would likely be forgotten about locally in short order. Which actually ties into the final point.

You're (Huggy) are right about one thing: a black man being implicated in a crime involving a firearm is an incredibly perilous position for him to be in. Chris Brown's celebrity status likely made the situation play out very differently than if he was just a guy. Which is fortunate for him, and unfortunate for society that fair treatment is often determined by potential PR fallout.

And as a general statement, I cannot imagine what living as a black person in the US is like, aside from abstractly understanding that it's frightening and terrible in ways I likely never realized. I'm legitimately sorry that you and so many others have to live under that threat.