Chris Brown Removes His Name from Kids’ Choice Awards

Just yesterday, we wrote about the fact that Chris Brown was unlikely to attend the March 28 Kids’ Choice Awards on Nickelodeon. At the time, a Nickelodeon spokesperson noted that Brown’s name would not be removed from the running, though an online petition was gaining steam and had over 5,000 signatures before the afternoon began. Now, Brown has taken it upon himself to remove his name from contention for the awards. He had been nominated both for favorite male singer and favorite song for his "Kiss Kiss" title.

In a statement to the media, Brown put an end to speculation on the topic. The statement read: "Chris very much appreciates the support of his fans and the honor they have paid him in the way of nominations for Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song. Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding the incident last month has shifted the focus from the music to whether he should be allowed to be among those nominated. While Chris would like to speak to his fans directly about this and other issues, pending legal proceedings preclude his doing so at this time. Once the matter before him has been resolved, he intends to do so."

For their part, Nickelodeon has chosen to honor Brown’s decision and has noted that they respect that decision. It’s also clear at this point that the legal troubles that Brown is facing lately, as well as the highly-publicized incident leading up to it, is having an extreme effect on Brown’s commercial success. Immediately after the arrest occurred, his song "Forever" was at number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay Chart, but dropped to 58 very quickly thereafter. It remains to be seen if both he and Rihanna can bounce back commercially from the incident, though Bill Werde, Editor in Chief for Billboard, noted, "People's memories can be short, and I think sometimes an amazing hit can trump even people's expectations. That said, Chris Brown is a guy who sort of developed his career around a very clean image, and an image that was safe for teens and tweens. ... When you have an artist whose career has been so predicated on keeping a clean image, this is a little bit of a tougher hurdle to get over."