AMAs Explain Why Chris Brown Performance Was Scrapped: ‘We Couldn’t Align’

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A day after the 50th American Music Awards aired — without a planned Michael Jackson tribute by Chris Brown — show producers have offered an explanation as to why the performance was dropped.

“Live shows change all the time, it’s the nature of this business; unfortunately, this element of the AMAs didn’t come together as we couldn’t align on the performance, to no fault of Chris Brown,” a spokesperson for Dick Clark Productions, which produces the show, said in a statement Monday to Urban Hollywood 411.

The announcement came after Brown revealed on social media that his performance had been canceled for “reasons unknown,” prompting his fans to say they would boycott the ABC broadcast.

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On Saturday, Nov. 19, the “Under The Influence” singer posted a video on Instagram of himself rehearsing for the AMAs tribute.

The footage featured Brown and a group of dancers showing off MJ-inspired moves to “Beat It,” “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,’” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”

Brown captioned the post: “U Serious?”

He later returned to the comments section of the post to tell his followers: “Would’ve been the AMA performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown.”

His fans were furious about the way Brown had been treated. Thousands of people replied to the post, with many vowing they would not watch Sunday night’s awards.

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Brown did not attend the ceremony, but in an ironic twist, he won the award for Favorite Male R&B Artist.

Kelly Rowland announced the winner and as soon as she said Brown’s name, the star-studded audience inside L.A.’s Microsoft Theater began to boo. Rowland admonished the crowd to “chill out.”

The story surrounding the scrapped performance took another turn on Monday morning, when Ciara posted a video on Twitter suggesting she planned to join Brown in the Michael Jackson tribute.

The minute-long clip showed Ciara in a dance studio with Brown rehearsing routines to “Thriller” and Billy Jean.”

She captioned the post: “MJ thank you for the inspiration you’ve given us all! Thriller 40th Anniversary. @ChrisBrown you’re a rare breed of this generation. Always fun to rock with you.”

Puck, a Hollywood news website, reported the performance was scrapped because ABC “began considering the optics of a convicted domestic abuser feting an alleged child molester.”

The outlet said AMAs executive producers Jesse Collins and Stephen Hill wanted to give Brown “an opportunity to return to TV” after his past troubles, but Disney/ABC brass stepped in after being contacted by reporters and put the kibosh on the tribute.