Chris Brown refused to stand during the National Anthem at a charity basketball game held on Sept. 11.
Brown participated in the 2016 Power 106 All-Star Celebrity Basketball Game benefitting Homeboy Industries, an organization that provides support for former gang members and previously incarcerated individuals to make a positive change, at USC’s Galen Center in Los Angeles Sunday.
Brown remained seated during Tank’s performance of the “Star Spangled Banner.” Before starting, the R&B singer asked the crowd to participate in memory of the victims of 9/11.
“I understand everybody’s right to stand or to sit and exercise their right to freedom and justice. But in the wake of 9/11, please understand and respect the fact that real men and women and children lost their lives for this very thing that we’re able to stand for today, this very place that we’re in, for this interaction, this moment.”
Brown received backlash on Twitter for the move, with people calling him “vile” and “disgusting,” according to Us Weekly. His only response thus far has been an Instagram post showing a screenshot of TMZ’s coverage of the event.
Athletes like Colin Kaepernick have kneeled during the National Anthem at professional sports games recently in protest of police brutality and social injustice across the nation.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this post misidentified the charity mentioned above as Homebody Industries.
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