WASHINGTON – Akon – who has gone through legal woes and bad publicity himself – says he’d be willing to work with pop’s latest problem child, Chris Brown.
WASHINGTON – Akon – who has gone through legal woes and bad publicity himself – says he’d be willing to work with pop’s latest problem child, Chris Brown.
“Oh, absolutely!” Akon said in a phone interview Monday. “I wouldn’t take anybody’s personal issues or problems…I won’t hold them accountable for that when it comes to work. I think it’s two separate things.”
The 19-year-old R&B singer was charged with two felonies last week in connection with an alleged attack on his girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, 21. Brown is accused of beating her in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, the day of the Grammy Awards. Both were due to perform but bowed out. He was arrested that night.
Since then, a photo has surfaced that shows a badly beaten Rihanna, and an affidavit released last week offered brutal details of the alleged assault.
Brown has seen endorsements evaporate, and some stations have stopped playing the music of the platinum star.
But Akon said it’s not fair “to hold his whole career at bay because of it. He’s gonna learn and he’s gonna move forward, and just hopefully he won’t treat the next woman the same way.”
Akon has been through legal troubles and public relations disasters of his own. He agreed last December to perform community service and pay a fine for throwing a teen off a stage in 2007 after someone in a crowd apparently threw something at him.
He also apologized for simulating sex with a teen at a Trinidadian concert; he said he did not know the girl was so young.
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