Chris Brown says he was disinvited from NBA All-Star Celebrity Game due to controversies
Chris Brown is slamming the NBA and claiming he was disinvited from the league's annual NBA All-Star Celebrity Game due to his past domestic violence controversies.
The R&B singer posted several screenshots of emails on his Instagram Story early Saturday morning, which appear to be sent by NBA representatives.
"I was asked by the NBA to play in the all star game this year! Only for them to call later and say they couldn't do IT because of their sponsors like RUFFLES. At this point I'm sick of people bothering me," Brown said before writing that he is "tired of living" in the past.
Chris Brown accused of hitting a woman in Los Angeles, reports say
In a statement to USA TODAY Sunday, Ruffles said while the chips company sponsored the NBA event, it "did not have any involvement in, nor visibility to, any player decisions or celebrity invite discussions."
In a separate statement, the NBA also confirmed that Ruffles "had no input on the Celebrity Game rosters."
While Brown was left off this year's all-star roster, the game featured a slew of celebrities including Super Bowl champion and Kansas City Chiefs player Mecole Hardman Jr., talk show host and singer Jennifer Hudson, "Backstreet Boys" member AJ McLean, country singer Walker Hayes and YouTube star Lilly Singh.
"I POSTED THE EMAILS SO YALL COULD SEE. The NBA still was tryna get me to come and sit court side...," Brown told his 145 million Instagram followers.
Brown has been accused of domestic violence several times throughout the course of his career. The Grammy winner was accused of hitting a woman during an argument at a Los Angeles residence in 2021. But he also has a longer history of detailed legal battles throughout the past two decades, including his infamous 2009 assault of singer and then-girlfriend Rihanna on Grammys night.
Chris Brown has long history of legal battles for alleged violent acts
In 2013, a woman accused Brown of shoving her to the ground after a nightclub show in California, though no charges were filed, and Brown was also convicted of a misdemeanor stemming from a 2015 assault charge by a woman in Colorado.
No charges were filed in a 2016 Las Vegas nightclub altercation in which a woman accused Brown of punching her in the face, but Brown faced charges for assault with a deadly weapon later that year after a woman claimed that Brown pointed a gun at her face. That charge did not result in a conviction.
In 2017, a judge granted Brown’s ex-girlfriend and model Karrueche Tran’s request for a restraining order after she claimed that the singer threatened to kill her. Two years later, in 2019, the singer was taken into custody by authorities in Paris for sexual assault allegations, but he was later released without any charges filed against him.
Contributing: Elise Brisco
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Brown says he was disinvited from NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
