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<Guiseppi> Hey guys, just noticed something...
<Guiseppi> Rihanna's "Don't Stop the Music" is the 6th most viewed video on Youtube...
<Guiseppi> And Chris Brown's "With You" is 4th most viewed.
<Guiseppi> I guess Chris Brown beats Rihanna.

Nathan Rabin (The Onion A.V. Club) wrote:"We have a tendency to treat celebrities like pampered children who can get away with just about anything as long as they look appropriately remorseful and solemn while apologizing. But there are lines that cannot be crossed and crimes that cannot be forgiven. Domestic abuse is such a crime, especially when coupled with a complete lack of remorse.
...
We’re willing to tolerate, excuse, and even venerate the bad behavior of geniuses, but we’re thankfully less accepting of the tawdry transgressions of the mediocre and lucky

Chris Brown, after an interview on Good Morning America in which he was questioned over his assault on Rihanna, wrote:I'm so over people bring this past s**t up!! Yet we praise Charlie sheen and other celebs for there[sic] bulls**t

Does Chris Brown have a point? Yes he did something terrible, but since he's paid the price for his actions do we still have the right to continually bring them up every time his name is mentioned, or are we right in continuing to hound him for his crimes?

Personally I strongly disagree with Mr. Rabin on this point, as it seems to me ludicrous that the extent to which we judge musicians is dependent on something almost entirely subjective, i.e. musical taste. Moreover, if his victim had been someone less high-profile than Rihanna, would his career have floundered so strongly? Dr. Dre was guilty of something not dissimilar twenty years ago, but his career seems to have gone nowhere but up regardless. Charlie Sheen, as mentioned by Chris Brown above, though not a musician, has become some sort of cultural anti-hero thanks to his popularity on Two and Half Men (which I've never watched), despite being found guilty of a similar offence to Chris Brown not two years ago (and furthermore being an all-round crazy man, to boot).

Opinions?

I'm undecided on some of the things you mentioned, but I can say that I think that we should hold people accountable to the same degree whether they're a famous artist or an average joe.

The main reason, so far as I can tell, that "we" continue to bring Brown's crimes up is that that's by far the most interesting thing about him. The reason his carrer has floundered isn't due to a public punishing him for his past deeds, so much as it is a public punishing him for his past deeds and consistent musical blandness. Say what you will about Sheen, it's pretty clear he's doing more attention-worthy things now.

God bless Charlie Sheen.