"Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire, we were doing that back 40 years ago. Only difference is, between then and now, we didn't go to jail!"
Despite promisingly stormy weather forecasts, last night (August 12), losers unfortunately didn't get hella rained on when the Chris Brown and Usher co-headlining abomination tour had its second of two nights at Toronto's Rogers Stadium. Somehow, Lionel Richie sensed our disappointment, and decided to let it rain in the form of criticism of the known abuser and his co-compatriot's joint ventures in live music.
UPDATE (8/13, 3:56 p.m. ET): Brown has now tried his best to respond like a fine Christian man. Commenting on Phoenix radio station Sunny 104.3 FM's Instagram video, he wrote, "😂😂😂😂 damn unk [sic]. We love ya paw paw." Original!
On stage at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, AZ, amidst his own headlining tour on Tuesday (August 11), Richie took a moment to weigh in on the R&B Tour.
In fan-shot video footage from the show, the former Commodores co-lead singer can be heard remarking, "Usher and Chris Brown, see, they trying to do something new! Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire, we were doing that back 40 years ago. Only difference is, between then and now, we didn't go to jail!"
Richie continued, "We're fine Christian men, fine Christian men. Fine Christian men, that's right. See, we didn't have that Instagram and that TikTok and that go out and tell a lie and they go and post it."
Things got very "Sure grandma, let's get you to bed" near the end there, but his heart was maybe in the right place? Frankly, it's also confusing that he's calling out Brown and Usher of all people for not doing anything new, since neither of them have been relevant for ages — but Richie's timeline is generally wonky, since he was already out of the Commodores and well into his solo career 40 years ago.
A brief recap of Brown's stints in prison for those following along at home: in 2014, he served 108 days in county jail after admitting a probation violation over an altercation outside of a hotel in Washington, D.C. He was arrested again in 2016 on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon, but released from jail on $250,000 USD bail.
Brown was once again taken into custody last May after being charged with "inflicting grievous bodily harm" in connection with his alleged involvement in a February 2023 London nightclub attack. He was released on $6.7 million bail days later.
Last month, Brown pleaded guilty to affray for the 2023 nightclub incident and is facing three years in prison, with sentencing scheduled for September. But, of course, he's faced plenty of additional charges — many of which were dropped — over the years since he famously bludgeoned then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, and has seemingly suffered little consequence in the eyes of Team Breezy.
For his part, Usher's never been to prison — but he did defend Diddy, not to mention decide to embark on this tour. Not a great record! He's also caused controversy a couple of times on the R&B Tour already, going viral for some on-stage grinding on a fan that wasn't particularly well received, as well as for allegedly using a body double at a show.
Which is weirder: this nonsense, or the fact that people are paying to see Chris Brown and Usher? That, my friends, is the eternal question.
