A day after R&B singer Kehlani wrote of her suicide attempt on Instagram, fellow musician Chris Brown labeled it a ploy to garner sympathetic comments.
"There is no attempting suicide," he admonished. "Stop flexing for the (Insta)gram."
Kehlani later deleted all of her posts, including Monday's suicidal post featuring a photo taken at the hospital showing an IV in her arm. She still appeared to be hospitalized as of Tuesday, when friend Nick Cannon posted a photo from his visit on Instagram.
Brown appeared to be responding to social rumors swirled on social media that Kehlani had cheated on his pal, Cleveland Cavaliers player Kyrie Irving, with her ex-boyfriend, rapper PartyNextDoor (whose real name is Jahron Anthony Brathwaite).
But in her deleted Instagram post (which was preserved by TMZ), Kehlani insisted that she and Irving were already broken up before she reunited with PartyNextDoor: "I am severely utterly in love with my first love [Party Next Door]. Went thru (sic) a bad breakup and ended up easing into a relationship with a man who was one of my best friend [Irving]. Tho (sic) we realized we both weren't exactly at a time where we were prepared to do so. No, I'm not a cheater ... I'm a believer in following your heart and not lying to yourself."
"Guess she gone have to watch the games from a real 'box' now," Brown cracked, implying that she would be relegated to watching Irving play on TV and then throwing in a misogynistic slur for good measure.
Acknowledging that his comments would probably provoke outrage, Brown continued, "I'ma ride for my homies regardless. Kyrie is probably one of the only good guys left."
Gossip blogger Perez Hilton responded, "Thankfully, most people have little sympathy for you," a likely reference to Brown's February 2009 felony assault arrest for beating then-girlfriend Rihanna on the eve of that year's Grammy Awards. He served five years of probation and was given a 5-year restraining order forbidding him from approaching his ex-girlfriend.
Brown's probation in the Rihanna case ended earlier this month, later than initially planned because his parole was revoked this January for travel violations and incomplete community service hours.
He's had a checkered record in the years since the Rihanna assault, including a 2013 arrest for striking a man in Washington, D.C., which led to a stint in rehab. The singer, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse complications during his stay, was later expelled from the program and spent a couple of months in jail.
The consensus on Twitter: Given Brown's own track record, he is hardly in a position to comment on someone else's relationship.
Rob Shuter, a veteran publicist-turned-celebrity reporter, who runs naughtygossip.com, says the backlash to Brown’s Twitter ranting is understandable given his history.
"He’s a troublemaker and he’s seeking attention," Shuter says. "Everything he’s saying about her, he’s doing himself. I wish I could hold up a mirror to him. A therapist would call it projection. He inserted himself into a situation he had no business being in.”
As for Kehlani, Shuter believes her crisis was real and not a staged prank to get attention. He says anyone who claims to have considered suicide should be believed and treated sympathetically on social media – as some, such as Questlove, Nick Cannon and Keyshia Cole – have done, in contrast to Brown.
“It’s so sad, you wanna believe it,” he says, offering Kehlani the benefit of the doubt. Still, “instead of dealing with the issues that put her in that position, she’s tweeting pictures from a hospital gurney. She needs a lot of help. She has bigger problems than worrying about what Chris Brown thinks of her, if in fact, this (episode) is all true.”
Representatives for Kehlani declined USA TODAY's request for comment; Chris Brown's publicity team has yet to respond.
