Beat it, Chris Brown.
The “Loyal” singer claims the team behind Sunday’s American Music Awards canceled his tribute to Michael Jackson at the last minute.
The “Look at Me Now” rapper took to Instagram Saturday to air his complaints, posting a seven-minute rehearsal clip that shows his crew of female dancers practicing some serious moves.
Starting with the track “Under the Influence,” the performance transitions to Jackson’s “Beat It,” where Brown and his dancers can be seen busting a move to the mega hit. They even included some of Jackson’s iconic choreography in their rendition of other hits such as “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller.”
The 40th anniversary of the “Thriller” album is this month. Reps for the ABC network, which is airing the AMAs Sunday at 8 p.m. Eastern time, did not immediately respond to a Post request for comment.
“U SERIOUS?” Brown, fashioned in a green silky get-up, captioned his rehearsal clip, along with the face-palm emoji.
“WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown,” the 33-year-old artist continued in the comments.
Brown has been likened to Jackson in the past, but insists the comparisons are “cap.”
“There is no competing with him,” Brown said in an interview with Big Boy. “Hell no. I got shrines of this man hanging up in my house. Hell naw, I ain’t better than Michael Jackson.”
Fans were quick to take the singer’s side in the Instagram comments, with people saying it was “sick” he got canceled and expressing sympathy.
“You were so excited!” wrote Taylor Terry, who has toured with Brown. “The whole team on and off the floor was excited!!! Never left a rehearsal without having chills!”
“The fact that they cancelled and you STILL showed us this AMAZING a** performance just shows what a great artist you are,” another user agreed. “This was GOLD.”
“THIS LITERALLY WOULD’VE BEEN THE PERFORMANCE OF THE YEAR,” someone else wrote.
Brown’s AMA claims come a week after the publication of portions of a memoir Aaron Carter reportedly co-wrote. The late pop star alleged he had an awkward underwear encounter with Jackson as a teen at his Neverland Ranch. The sale of Carter’s memoir was put on hold this week amid backlash from people close to him. Jackson died in 2009.
While Brown isn’t sure why the AMAs allegedly scrapped his performance, his troubled past might be to blame. TMZ speculated that his decade-old altercation with R&B superstar Rihanna could be the reason for the snub.
In 2009, Brown, who was 19 at the time, was arrested for hitting his former flame, then 20. He later pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault.
Brown has not stayed out of headlines since then. Last year he was accused of hitting a woman during an argument in his Los Angeles home. He was sued earlier this year for allegedly drugging and raping a woman in Miami in 2020.
In an attempt to clear his name of sexual assault, the Grammy winner claimed the accusations were “cap,” saying in an Instagram story he was done with people “dragging me through the mud.”
He followed with screenshots of messages between him and his accuser, which allegedly showed she attempted to pursue a relationship with the singer even after the reported incident.
Despite his self-proclaimed innocence, A-listers who cozy up to Brown often receive some online flak.
Earlier this year, R&B singer Normani, 26, was blasted by fans for appearing in Brown’s music video for “WE (Warm Embrace).” In the clip, she can be seen grinding against the singer and even sharing a kiss.
Normani fans went in on her, criticizing the young star for associating herself with Brown.
“Idk why the new R&B girls feel the need to collaborate with him,” one user griped in a tweet, which spurred thousands of retweets at the time.
“Ella Mai, HER, Chlöe, now Normani. It’s disappointing. I can’t even say I get it bc he has repeated his behavior toward women, kicks darkskin women out of clubs he’s in and has made the same song since 2012.”
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