'Chris Brown & Rihanna: Love In Trouble' -- Check Out A Preview

NEW YORK — Shock and denial were the emotions most expressed by a roomful of New York City-area young people who gathered on Friday afternoon (February 13) to discuss the alleged altercation between Chris Brown and Rihanna and its ramifications.

The conversation was a part of a forum held for the MTV News special, "Chris Brown And Rihanna: Love In Trouble," set to air Monday at 6 p.m. ET/PT.

"He seemed like a good guy," said Lee Charm, 20, a musician from New Jersey, of Brown. "I hope that [the reports aren't] as bad as it seems, because domestic violence is serious."

A number of audience members were dismayed that the seemingly happy couple could even come to blows. Some, like Melissa Bucano, 20, a college student at the Academy of Art — who said that, as a child, she witnessed her father turning violent against her mother — talked about the lingering trust issues following a domestic assault. Others, such as Viper Lewis, 19, of New York, were more blunt: "If she goes back to him, she'd be stupid," she said of Rihanna. Lewis added that both singers have made her "mad" as a result of the incident.

The forum, moderated by MTV News' Kim Stolz, touched on a range of topics with two experts: Dr. Michelle Bell and Juan Ramos, senior director of the domestic violence accountability program at Safe Horizon, a victim-assistance organization dedicated to helping men and women deal with abuse.

Safe Horizon provided some alarming statistics regarding relationship abuse among young couples:

* One in three teenagers reportedly know a friend or peer who has been hit, punched, kicked, slapped, choked or physically hurt by their partner

* 13 percent of teenage girls who said they have been in a relationship report being physically hurt or hit

* If trapped in an abusive relationship, 73 percent of teens said they would turn to a friend for help, but only 33 percent of who have been in or known about an abusive relationship said they have told anyone

The figures come from a study commissioned by Liz Claiborne Inc. conducted by Teenage Research Unlimited in February 2005.

"Dr. Michelle," as she was called, spoke to the audience about the importance of recognizing the signs of an abusive relationship.

"Any time there's fighting, restraining a person, jealousy, or control issues," is how she defined abuse. "A lot of stuff passes that we think is OK until a punch gets thrown, but it's not."

In Brown's case, the singer has said in the past that his former stepfather had a history of abusing his mother (a claim his former stepfather disputed this week). Dr. Michelle explained that young men often take two stances in such situations: either they vow to maintain control over their actions, or they repeat the cycle.

Ramos echoed the sentiment and added that if the allegations are true, Brown should take responsibility and use his voice to lead a discussion among his and Rihanna's fans.

The issue of abuse isn't limited to solely relationships between men and women, as one woman in the audience was quick to point out. Dr. Michelle agreed, and said the same rules apply no matter the gender. She then issued a stern warning.

"Nobody should be hitting anyone," she said. "Keep your hands to yourself!"

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Did 50 Cent Take Beef Too Far With Threat To DJ Khaled's Mother?

Fif posts, and then removes, online video claiming to show Khaled's mother's home and workplace

It went deeper than rap, and in many people's minds, it crossed the line of hip-hop battling. On Wednesday, 50 Cent released a dis video on ThisIs50.com called "A Psychic Told Me," in which he threatens DJ Khaled and his mother.

In the clip, 50 is sitting down in the studio, writing a poem, then the footage switches to a house that he claims belongs to Khaled's mom. Later, 50 says he knows where DJ Khaled lives and all but takes responsibility for the DJ's car tires recently being slashed. Then the video shows some men in Thisis50.com T-Shirts arriving at Khaled's mother's purported workplace. The woman they claim is the DJ's mother is asleep at a desk, as the cameraman zooms in on photos of Khaled and Fat Joe. At the end of the video, 50 declares he has "less compassion than the average human." He crumples the poem he was working on, a ThisIs50.com logo comes on the screen and there is the sound of gunshots.

Viewers were left in a state of shock, as the clip seems to indicate that the beef between 50, Rick Ross and Khaled has taken an uglier turn.

Meanwhile, both Khaled and Ross were in New York on Thursday, shooting a video that had nothing to do with hip-hop quarrels, but in fact promoted unity. The two Miami hip-hop staples joined Fabolous, Ludacris and Juelz Santana for The-Dream's video for the remix of "Rockin' That Thang."

On the set, Khaled refused to address the 50 issue. "I'm not gonna let him bait me," he said. But Ricky Ross had plenty to say on the latest round.

"I'mma be honest; I didn't have a reaction," Ross said. "Watching that, understanding the monkey, it's like its no threat whatsoever. ... To me, it's a sign of reassuring you're people's safety. Where I come from, Gs, if they had that information [of where your enemies and their families live], I'm not exposing nothing. I'm acting like I don't know nothing. To the real Gs, they don't even watch it or entertain it. ... Khaled, his mom knows she's safe. All the Gs worldwide know what it is, and it gets no points."

In his defense, 50 told radio personality Miss Info that his threat to Khaled's mom was in response to ThisIsCurly.com, a site promoting Ross' album that had featured a picture of Fif's son Marquise Photoshopped on the head of a monkey.

"How come everyone hears the shot, but nobody sees the slap before the shot?" 50 asked Miss Info. He also further explained his fight strategy: "You push, I punch. You stab, I shoot."

Info says Ross' camp denied having anything to do with ThisIsCurly.com, which has since apparently been hacked. It now appears to be a site for a sex shop that is streaming 50's own "Pimpin' Curly" spoof video, in which he wears a wig and plays a crude pimp, apparently responding to Ross' dis record, "Kiss My Pinky Ring, Curly."

The video of the threat to Khaled and his mom was removed from ThisIs50 on Thursday। In the meantime, however, 50 released a new dis record called "Tia Told Me," referring to Tia Kemp, Ross' baby's mother। The G-Unit also just dropped a dis video for "I'll Be the Shooter."

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Why Are Some People Blaming Rihanna For Alleged Altercation With Chris Brown?

National Organization for Women president says victim-blaming is not unusual in such situations।

If the many media reports about the alleged altercation on Sunday between Chris Brown and girlfriend Rihanna are to be believed, she suffered a serious assault from her 19-year-old boyfriend. While police have not named the victim in the case or released details of the assault, a number of media outlets have cited sources who said that Rihanna was the victim and that she suffered serious injuries.

Brown was arrested on Sunday and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats in what has been described as a domestic-abuse incident that was the culmination of a reportedly troubled relationship with an alleged history of previous abusive incidents.
If the many media reports about the alleged altercation on Sunday between Chris Brown and girlfriend Rihanna are to be believed, she suffered a serious assault from her 19-year-old boyfriend. While police have not named the victim in the case or released details of the assault, a number of media outlets have cited sources who said that Rihanna was the victim and that she suffered serious injuries.

Brown was arrested on Sunday and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats in what has been described as a domestic-abuse incident that was the culmination of a reportedly troubled relationship with an alleged history of previous abusive incidents.

Based on comments MTV News has received on the incident, a surprising number of people — some of whom are apparently female, although screen names often aren't gender-specific — are blaming Rihanna for the alleged incident.

For example, "I don't think Chris would just a hit a girl like that," wrote reader Nika2hot. "She had to do something or say something out the way for him to really hurt her."

"Blaming the victim has gone on as long as I can remember, both in sexual assault and domestic violence," said Kim Gandy, the president of NOW, the National Organization For Women. "When I started working on domestic-violence issues in the 1970s, women would not come forward because they knew they would be blamed, no matter how blameless they knew they were. Maybe they hadn't ironed his shirt right, or burned the toast, or 'done something' to justify being beaten."

Gandy said progress has been made since then, but the cycle of violence has continued, and in fact, has been on the upswing among teens over the past decade. "You hear teenagers now saying, 'He roughs her up when she gets out of line, but that's how he shows her he loves her.' "

She also noted that sometimes in cases of domestic abuse, even women will fall into the victim-blaming pattern, saying, "These men aren't really responsible, they must have been provoked ... a man wouldn't 'just beat her like that for no reason.' "

While the majority of commenters said they were shocked by the allegations and disappointed by the alleged actions of Brown, quite a few pointed the finger at Rihanna, 20, with a few alluding to unsubstantiated Internet rumors regarding intimate details of the couple's sexual relationship. (Some comments have been edited to correct grammar and punctuation.)

"Despite what we think, there are three sides to a story: his side, her side, and the truth. I don't know what that is, because I was not there," said MizDIva34.

"I don't wanna believe all this .... Chris wouldn't be that type of guy," wrote jb&weezyfan. "Well he doesn't seem like that type of guy ... this kinda reminds me of the Michael Jackson case ... Chris' career may be ruined forever ... just like Michael's ... sooo sad. I love all his songs. Well I'm still gonna support him. I just don't believe it ... until he says it ..... cause Rihanna is a ***** .. well she looks like one anyways."

While Rihanna has gotten an outpouring of support on her official MySpace page and Brown has gotten similar messages on his, some of the people posting on Brown's page and a few MTV readers were even harsher in their indictment of the alleged victim in the case.

Another reader, "Zjera_Boo," wrote, "If what I hear is correct and Rihanna gave chris an STD, then she needed it, but they are right he is only human." Also alluding to the Internet rumors, "Boogababe" added, "You guys seem to be forgetting the real reason why he did it in the first place ... He did that coz he was mad * a girl he trusted and which he was with ... which turned around to put his life in jeopardy by infecting him with an STD???!!!?? Comm'on guys Rihanna had what was coming to her...Brusies can heal ova some time but putting your health on the line like that is hectic!"

In keeping with what Gandy said was the typical pattern of victim scapegoating, "Alissa" argued, "Rihanna must have provoked it in some way, that still does not give Chris the right to do what he did so in the end, who's really to blame? They're both super young and need to remember who they were before the fame and who they are now."

Candice Hopkins, director of the Love is Respect Helpline, a national teen dating abuse hotline was not necessarily surprised at the large number of negative comments from females.

"Young people are not necessarily told what a healthy relationship looks like, so they're not sure if someone could or could not be abusive ... what is the line?" she told MTV News. "Domestic violence has been going on for so long, and it's such a part of our culture, on TV and in movies, that it's easy to say, 'She must have done something to deserve it.' "

Hopkins said there might also be a bit of a star factor that is influencing some of the young women calling out Rihanna. "There's a percentage who don't want to believe that this young man who has spoken out against domestic violence and seems to have a positive message can seem as abusive as this incident seems," she said.

And while Brown has not been charged with domestic abuse at press time, Gandy said the incident is an opportunity to talk about what men and women can do to avoid these types of situations in the future.

"It's awfully important for men to be involved in this," she said. "I talk with a lot of men about the joking and banter that goes on [about domestic abuse] and even when they're uncomfortable with it, they don't want to say anything because they don't want to be seen as a stick in the mud. But they need to stand up and say, 'Don't talk about a girl like that, that's not cool.'

"If your buddy is talking about doing something, you can't let it go," she continued। "You have to say, 'Hey, that's wrong. Why would you do that?' It's much easier to not say anything. But when you say it out loud you might get a bad reaction, but maybe he thinks twice about it if he knows his buddies are not backing him up."
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Sneak Peek of JT and TI on the Set of Dead and Gone

Small video clip of of T।I। and Justin Timberlake on the Cali set of the “Dead And Gone” video, directed by Chris Robinson. The complete video premieres this Tuesday, February 17 on MTV and MTV.com.

http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/340737/ti-and-justin-timberlake-behind-the-scenes-of-dead-and-gone.jhtml

http://mp3salem.com/Artist/1147/Justin_Timberlake/download-mp3/

Joe Satriani Won't Crash Coldplay's Grammy Party

Win or lose, Grammy night should no longer be a cold one for Coldplay.

The band is up for seven awards, but they're also the subject of a copyright infringement lawsuit from guitarist Joe Satriani, who claims the Chris Martin-fronted group plagiarized his 2004 instrumental track "I Just Wanna Fly" for their Record of the Year-contending hit "Viva la Vida."

The band has refuted this claim on its website, but Satriani and his lawyers are determined to move forward with the suit, although, contrary to previous reports, they won't be using the trophy night to serve Coldplay.

"We were going to attempt to serve them sometime this weekend while they were in Los Angeles, the Grammys being the most obvious time," Satriani's attorney, Howard King, tells E! News. "We had also considered the MusiCares event. However, we had a very fine lawyer contact us and assure us there’s no need to personally serve them. He will accept the papers on the band’s behalf."

For those of you thinking such a showdown might add a little zest to the awards show, you're not alone.

"All’s well that ends well," says King. "Too bad. It would have been pretty colorful, but also would have been very challenging."

At least pregnant M.I.A. is "due" to make a performance.

U2, Kid Rock, Plant/Krauss Added To Grammys

U2, Kid Rock, Rihanna and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have joined the performance lineup for the 51st Grammy Awards, to be held Feb. 8 at Los Angeles' Staples Center and broadcast live on CBS.

They join previously announced performers Kenny Chesney, Coldplay, Jennifer Hudson, Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, Paul McCartney (with Dave Grohl on drums), Katy Perry, Radiohead, T.I. and Justin Timberlake, Carrie Underwood, and Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, T.I. and Kanye West.

The first batch of award presenters include Jack Black, Duffy, Josh Groban and Charlie Haden, along with actors Simon Baker, Samuel L. Jackson and Gwyneth Paltrow.