As the backlash to his joining Usher on tour later this year continues to mount, Chris Brown is betting on his fans.
On Sunday, April 26, the 36-year-old Grammy-winning R&B singer responded to the criticism in a lengthy post on his Instagram Stories.
“The funniest and the weirdest sh— ever to me is the fact that poeple have the option to come to my tour and the option not to,” he began in the post.
“I know everyone who is a fan of me and USHER will definitely be in the building and it will be PACKED just like last year,” he continued. “But I’m scrolling through insta and tik tok and I come across rage bait pages and or these fake woke stand up for nothing pages bashing people for wanted to come have a good time.”
He added that he could understand when the hate is coming from “dudes,” because they’re “thinking we gone steal ya girl and sh—.”
“BUT THE KARENS, and the self hating hoes be making me LAUGH. I CANT WAIT TO RUB THIS SH— IN YALL FACE,” he concluded, alongside three laughing face emojis.
Earlier this month, the “Forever” singer and the 47-year-old R&B star announced the “R&B (Raymond and Brown) Tour,” a 33-date run kicking off on June 26 in Denver, Colorado. In the weeks since, backlash tied largely to Brown’s involvement has continued to grow, even as presale tickets sold out almost instantly.
Critics have called for a boycott as his past lengthy history of violence is resurfacing. That history dates back to his 2009 felony assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna, and includes multiple subsequent allegations and incidents over the years, from altercations with other artists to accusations of assault and intimidation. In March 2025, he was arrested overseas, tied to an alleged nightclub incident in the U.K. in 2023. His name has also been linked to a rumored altercation involving Usher in Las Vegas in 2023, though details around that incident remain disputed.
Part of what is fueling the backlash is how this reflects a familiar pattern in culture: accountability being swept under the rug when the perceived talent of the cultural figure outweighs the harm. That tension is especially pronounced when the harm involves Black women, who remain some of the most vulnerable to violence and experience it at disproportionate rates.
This conversation is also unfolding at a time when audiences are increasingly unwilling to separate the artist from the art or from the communities that support them. We saw that dynamic recently when Kanye West’s Los Angeles concert drew familiar faces, including Chloe Bailey, who faced mild backlash after sharing footage from the show. Even Bruno Mars has found himself on the receiving end of the backlash after showing support for Brown and Usher’s tour. “Big Brother” winner Ahsley Hollis also deleted her X account earlier this month after receiving an onslaught of backlash for defending Brown.
At the same time, emotions also remain heightened around violence against women, particularly Black women, amid a recent uptick of high-profile cases this month. For some, the tour moving full steam ahead and the lack of accountability it takes goes hand-in-hand with the misogyny and misogynoir contributing to the disproportionate rates of violence against Black women.
Among the backlash, however, is of course, a sizeable group of fans who are not only unbothered by the discourse but enthusiastically selling out the tour. For many fans, the tour is a rare opportunity to witness two of R&B’s most influential performers sharing a stage, with decades of hits going head-to-head in real time. There’s a real sense of nostalgia for Gen X and millennial fans.
Then there are others with a mix of loyalty and selective memory who say they can separate Brown’s personal life from his music, even arguing that more recent legal incidents stem from him being targeted because of his reputation.
In the meantime, general ticket sales for the tour opened Monday as the notorious crooner also surprised fans by revealing the birth of his 4th child and first with model Jada Wallace.
“Purest love,” Wallace wrote alongside a black-and-white maternity photo of herself.
Brown quickly showed his fatherly support in comments section , writing, “Taurus GANG” (Brown, who was born May 5, is also a Taurus).
