Chris Brown has played down a controversial picture showing the singer appearing to choke a woman, insisting he was only joking around with a friend.
The image surfaced online earlier this week (begs26Mar18) and in it, Brown, who was sentenced to probation in 2009 for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna, is seen with his hands around an unidentified female's neck while in Miami, Florida for the recent Ultra Music Festival.
After the image began making the rounds online, many of the Fine China hitmaker's fans questioned his behaviour, promoting Chris to address the scandal on social media.
"THANKS for all the publicity today," he writes sarcastically on Instagram. "Y'all know d**n well I ain't going down that road (sic). There is no need to even defend myself on the matter. Everyone that's around (girl/guy are my HOMIES (friends)). NO FOUL PLAY... NO IGNORANT S**T. END of discussion. LOVE."
Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, is also defending his client, telling TMZ.com the woman featured in the ill-advised snap is "a friend", who has already insisted the pose was "playful".
Geragos suggests he plans to take legal action over the photo leak, adding, "Whoever invaded their privacy will be held accountable."
The picture surfaced weeks after Brown and Rihanna hit headlines in March (18), when bosses at Snapchat ran a controversial advert for mobile phone game Would You Rather? asking users if they would "rather slap Rihanna or punch Chris Brown".
Brown has not addressed the Snapchat controversy, but the Umbrella hitmaker slammed company executives shortly after the promo was released.
"Now SNAPCHAT I know you already know you ain't my fav (favourite) app out there! But I'm just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I'd love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain't that dumb (sic)!" Rihanna wrote in a post on Instagram. "That would intentionally bring shame to DV (domestic violence) victims and make a joke of it..."
