Kelly Rowland says put some respect on Chris Brown’s name.
The singer and actress told the American Music Awards audience she’s loyal to Brown — and scolded the crowd for booing him.
After taking the stage to present the award for Favorite Male R&B Artist Sunday night at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, Rowland revealed Brown was the winner.
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The “Go Crazy” singer skipped the show — after announcing his planned performance had been canceled at the last minute without anyone telling him why.
Without Brown there to collect his award, Rowland started to say a few words on his behalf. But just the mention of the “Loyal” singer’s name prompted the audience to boo and jeer.
Rowland was not having it.
“Chris Brown is not here tonight, so I’m accepting this award on his behalf,” the Destiny’s Child alum said before warning the audience, “excuse me, chill out.”
“I want to tell Chris, thank you so much for making great R&B music, and I want to tell him thank you for being an incredible performer,” she continued. “I’ll take this award, bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”
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Brown’s win followed the singer taking to Instagram over the weekend to say the AMAs canceled his Michael Jackson tribute performance with no explanation.
The singer uploaded a video from a rehearsal to give fans an idea of what they would’ve seen, if the AMAs hadn’t pulled the plug on the tribute.
“U Serious?” Brown captioned the clip, adding: “Would’ve been the AMA performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown.”
The footage showed the singer with two female dancers performing a routine to his new single “Under The Influence.” Moments later, a group of male dancers joined him and they began to dance to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” before segueing into “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin,’” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”
This month marks the 40th anniversary of Michael Jackson’s 1982 album Thriller, which sold over 30 million copies.
Watch the video below of Kelly Rowland presenting at the AMAs.
