Selena Gomez should receive an honorary award for her unfiltered response to Chris Brown’s MTV VMAs nomination.
In footage of the awards ceremony, which has now gone viral, Selena can be seen looking disgusted and refusing to applaud as Brown and his collaborator, Chloe Bailey, are announced among the nominees for Best R&B Video.
In the clip shared by PopBase, Selena is shown applauding previous nominees before scrunching up her face and not clapping for Brown’s nomination.
Fans quickly concluded Gomez’ response is most likely linked to Brown’s history of domestic violence.
In 2009, Brown pleaded guilty and was convicted of physically abusing his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. Images of Rihanna, bruised and bloodied after the assault from Brown, were widely shared by media.
Despite this, support for Brown has appeared to remain strong in pockets of the public and within the industry. On top of his nomination, Brown also performed his song, ‘How Does It Feel’, which was made in collaboration with Chloe Bailey, sister of The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey with whom she used to perform as a duo act, Chloe x Halle.
While Selena has received online praise for her response, Brown’s fans have been quick to pile on the singer, with many labelling her “disrespectful” for the reaction.
It appears Selena has responded to her critics with a message posted to her Instagram stories, saying, “I will never be a meme again. I’d rather sit still than be dragged for being myself. Much love.”
However, others are praising Selena for being “real” for expressing her disapproval, with Twitter user saying “F—ing finally a woman in the industry not pushing for his ‘reformed’ image 👏👏”.
Selena has since made her thoughts on the viral footage clear, commenting on an I Heart Radio post with a simple message: “Who cares?”
Brown also commented on Instagram, seemingly in response to the incident, saying “Let me mind my business.”
Both Gomez and Brown were nominated at this year’s MTV VMAs.
The former won a gong for her ‘Calm Down’ collaboration with Nigerian rapper Rema, in the afrobeats category. Selena and Rema also received two further nominations.
Meanwhile, Brown and Bailey lost in their category of best R&B video to SZA.
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