AMAs 2022: Kelly Rowland says ‘chill out’ after Chris Brown booed

The singer then went on to sincerely thank the artist for his contribution to R&B music

Kelly Rowland told crowd members at the American Music Awards to “chill out” on Sunday after they booed Chris Brown.

The former Destiny’s Child singer was accepting Brown’s win for the Favorite Male R&B Artist category on his behalf when the audience began booing.

“Excuse me,” Rowland said before adding: “Chill out.”

The 41-year-old then went on to sincerely acclaim Brown, addressing him directly and say that she loved him.

“Chris, thank you so much for making great R&B music,” she said.

“ll take this award [and] bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”

Brown, who was a controversial winner due to his history of accusations for violence against women, didn’t attend the awards ceremony after his performance was reportedly cancelled.

Brown tweeted on Sunday (20 November) claiming that he was originally due to perform: “WOULDVE been the ama performance, but they cancelled me for reasons unknown.”

“Live shows change all the time, it’s the nature of this business,” a spokesperson told The Independent. “Unfortunately, this element of the AMAs didn’t come together as we couldn’t align on the performance, to no fault of Chris Brown.”

In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting his ex-girlfriend and superstar Rihanna. He has also had several assault accusations by ex-girlfriends and acquaintances since then.

It seems that many viewers at home weren’t too happy with Brown’s win at the AMAs either.

“Chris Brown just won an #AMAs *and* Kelly Rowland shushed the audience so she could praise him and preach about how much she loves him? Whew! It might be time to turn this off,” wrote Them editor Michael Cuby on Twitter.

“No f*cking way chris brown just won something and Kelly Rowland saying she loves him… what the f*ck is this #amas,” wrote one watcher at home.

“What decent thing has Chris Brown done in recent years that warrants any type of pardon or praise… quickly. He’s an abuser and deserves to be booed at the LEAST! Kelly Rowland is weird as hell for that #AMAs,” wrote another viewer.

“Chris Brown just won an AMA in 2022 and Kelly Rowland defended him. This is why I don’t watch the AMAs,” said someone else.

However, some people praised Rowland’s defence of Brown on stage: “Chris Brown won Best R&B Artist and Kelly Rowland I love how you affirmed him. A class act.”

“That was nice of Kelly Rowland to say that about Chris Brown. He deserves that,” another wrote.

The Independent has contacted representatives from Rowland’s team, Brown’s team and the AMAs for comment.

You can find the full list of winners for the AMAs here.