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Next Time, He'll Kill You
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Former sex-crimes prosecutor and bestselling author Linda Fairstein says Chris Brown remains a serious danger, based on the standards by which experts measure whether a batterer will do it again. How tragic it appears Rihanna may go back to him.
I’ve studied the photograph of Rihanna that was leaked to the media a week after she was assaulted on her way home from a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles shortly after midnight on February 8. It is impossible to recognize the face of the beautiful singer whose enormous talent had earned her legions of fans worldwide. Her left eye is swollen, discolored, and badly bruised. There are contusions on both sides of her forehead and cheeks, and lacerations on her lips and chin. If we saw any woman we cared about in that condition—daughter, sister, or friend—we would have absolutely no ambivalence about what should happen to her assailant. We’d demand he be locked up immediately, expect a jail sentence after his conviction, and many would want to exact a kind of punishment the criminal justice system doesn’t allow.
O.J. Simpson would have scored off the charts for lethality measures. I hope Rihanna understands the deadly nature of this victimization, before history repeats itself.
Why, then, is the reaction so very different when the assault is alleged to have occurred at the hands of an intimate partner of the victim, rather than a stranger or street predator? In this instance, by another young superstar in the music world who’d been Rihanna’s lover for a year and a half? So much of the public response centered on disbelief that the attacker was Chris Brown—such a clean-cut young man, whose charm and good looks, celebrity endorsements, and dazzling smile should give him a pass for this seemingly uncharacteristic behavior.
Nicole Brown was 18 years old in 1977, when she started dating the famous athlete who would take her life less than 20 years later. Shortly after their relationship began, Nicole documented the first incident of physical abuse by her lover. O.J. Simpson’s charm and good looks, his celebrity endorsements, and his dazzling smile also allowed others—relatives and friends among them—to overlook the escalating violence throughout the couple’s courtship and marriage. There were scores of witnesses to Simpson’s verbally abusive behavior toward Nicole in restaurants and clubs, neighbors often heard him scream threats at his wife, and family members saw photographs that memorialized the beatings he subjected her to—the infamous New Year’s Day assault in 1989—more than five years before her murder in 1994.
Like most victims of intimate partner violence, Nicole Brown called 911 to report her attacks more than eight times before she successfully separated from her husband. Police officers responded to her home on those occasions, sometimes making formal reports of their visits and often—when Nicole herself declined to press charges—left without making any record. At no point did anyone in her family or in law enforcement effect a successful intervention. O.J. Simpson was never arrested for assault, never forced to acknowledge the injury he caused his wife. He was never held accountable for any of the violence he perpetrated against Nicole.
After Rihanna and Chris Brown left the party last month, before reaching home, he is alleged to have argued with her over a text message he received from a former girlfriend. He stopped the car and tried unsuccessfully to push her out, then slammed her head against the window, punching her in the eye and face until she began to spit up blood. Mixed with the battering were threats—that he would "beat the shit" out of her when they got home. (There’s a haunting 911 call Nicole Brown made in 1993—it plays all over the web—when O.J. broke into her home a year after their divorce: “He’s going to beat the shit out of me,” she told the police operator.) Rihanna managed to reach her assistant on her cell, asking the girl to call 911. That triggered another series of punches and a death threat: “Now I’m really going to kill you.” When Rihanna grabbed the car keys, the popular Mr. Brown choked her in a headlock, nearly rendering her unconscious, and bit her fingers as she struggled to get his hands off her neck.
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Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
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Jacob Bernstein is a senior reporter at The Daily Beast. Previously, he was a features writer at WWD and W Magazine. He has also written for New York magazine, Paper, and The Huffington Post.
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Jeff Madrick is a contributor to the New York Review of Books and a former economics columnist for the New York Times. He is editor of Challenge Magazine, visiting professor of humanities at Cooper Union, and senior fellow at the New School's Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis. He is the author of Taking America, The End of Affluence (Random House) and The Case for Big Government.
The Predator's Partner
Linda Fairstein, the former chief prosecutor of the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit, is an authority on crimes of violence against women and children. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling crime novel Lethal Legacy and a member of the board of Safe Horizon.
Justice for Rihanna
Linda Fairstein, the former chief prosecutor of the New York County District Attorney's Sex Crimes Unit, is an authority on crimes of violence against women and children. She is also the author of the New York Times bestselling crime novel Lethal Legacy and a member of the board of Safe Horizon.
If she's stupid enough to stay with someone who beats her, she has no one to blame but herself.
you should not judge what you your self have not gone thru to know how mentaly and physicaly hard it is to leave when you are in this type of situation.
So many battered women, so little time. I don't know Chris Brown, don't Rihanna. It's not that I don't care. More like why is the media so invested in this thing?
She has her abuser to blame, sonofloud. Women who are abused by their partners are not stupid, they're being psychologically terrorized. I regret that your comment reflects ignorance, a 'blame the victim' mentality, and a basic lack of empathy. Shame on you.
The photos of Rhianna were shocking to me. Especially when you remember that before the shot on the left, Rihanna was all dolled up and ready to go out to a very public event. Without seeing the pictures and hearing the details of the attack, I had assumed that this attack was much more tame. I hope the publicity around this helps her friends and family to provide her with the support she will need to protect herself. Too often these thugs are shielded by their victims, and others, from facing any consequences.
This article was written with true compassion for the victim. Thanks for the article.
Let me speak from experience: To the outside world it may appear that it was a fight that got out of hand. It is not. An event like this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There is a whole abusive relationship going on in which the abuser has convinced his victim that no one else wants her, that she is such a loser, AND lucky to have him. The abuser has systematically weakened all of his victim's relationships with those close to her so that she no longer trusts her friends and family.
He has made it so the only person she trusts is him, the wonderful man who she has been conditioned to believe is the only person who could truly love someone as inadequate as her.
And there is a little bit of class prejudice here as well. We expect this kind of behavior from the lower classes in society. But when a man is successful and charming we tend to view the woman as over-reacting or somehow causing it.
The only thing that sets this case apart--and baffling to most people--is Rihanna own fame and talent. Many, many other celebrities have been accused of domestic violence with a non-famous partner and those stories don't make these kinds of headlines.
For those of you who think she's stupid and deserves it, educate yourselves. This is not a simple crime. It is systematic control and abuse. The abuser needs to control someone at any cost.
It isn't merely about hitting someone.
Because it's exploitive and that's sexy and sex sells---period.
I can't say it enough: journalism, heal thyself.
I'm sure that, like most batterers, Chris Brown has convinced Rihanna that she's ugly, and stupid, and fat, and talks funny (there have been reports he's ridiculed her over her Barbadian accent) and that no man - except for Chris Brown - would want her.
Add to that the factor of a lot of his celebrity friends convincing her that his career, endorsements and image are 10,000 times more important than her life.
Remember, they reconciled while they were staying at Puffy's South Florida mansion - can you imagine the kind of psychological pressure that Puffy put on Rihanna to reconcile with that creep?
We already know that Jay-Z and Kanye West have publicly rushed to Chris Brown's defense - can you imagine what they said to her privately?
Not to mention all the pro Chris Brown postings on the hip hop blogs - many of which shockingly come from young women!
Rihanna has gotten called everything but a child of God on the blogs - and Chris Brown's vile crimes have been defended - in many cases by teenage girls!
Add to that the pressure that all Black women feel to protect Black men from incarceration - a pressure that flows from America's excessive police repression of African American men, but serves in cases like this as a shield for a batterer to hide behind.
And add to that the disturbingly common idea in society that women are the property of their partners, and that men have a right to beat the women in their lives for any reason, or no reason at all.
It is truly amazing how many people still believe that - including a lot of women.
In any case, I wish Rihanna the best...
As for Chris Brown - despite his smile and his superficial charm, I think he's scum.
I hope the LA County DA decides to prosecute, and sends him to prison for a long time.
He's famous, so he'll go to a country club jail - and I'm sure he'll use his wealth to bribe the guards and the gang leaders in the prison to buy his comfort and personal safety.
But losing a year out of his career - and all of his endorsements - and having to pay $ 500,000 or so in bribes to thugs and corrupt officers to watch his back in the joint - might make an impression on that young man.
Amen museweaver! But readers will have to administer the medication via this medium. Mainstream media is completely corrupted by the profit motive, and barely concerned with the truth motive. Just look at the types of blogs that receive the most responses. I wonder if Cindy McCain went on a date last night? I wonder if Chris Brown still "loves" Rihanna? There is a lot of work to do...
Nihaomono, you say "She has her abuser to blame, sonofloud. Women who are abused by their partners are not stupid, they're being psychologically terrorized"
And I agree, there is only one criminal in thsi scenario. As a woman though, she still has the power to press charges, ask for an injunction and cut this deadwood from her life (as psychologically hard as that may be.)
In her position, I am extremely concerned about the example she is setting toward her young, female fans who, potentially in a similar position, will choose to stand by their man in this way.
I wish her the strength and courage to do what's right.
G
There's nothing "sexy" about these kind of stories. And the reason why the media focuses on them is pretty obvious when you think about it:
It's a reason to examine our attitudes towards domestic abuse. I, for one, am amazed to see how primitive we really are in this supposedly post-feminist world.
Rihanna is young, beautiful, and rich. She projects a confidant, powerful "bad girl" image to the world. She has everything. That someone like her would be vulnerable to the normal patterns of domestic abuse and emotional battery is shocking.
And there's the matter of Chris Brown's clean-cut charm. Him? That nice young man? Him, a wife-beater? No way, she must have done something to deserve it. Right? I'm sure he just made a mistake. He'll never do it again. Right?
The fact that in 2009 we can still blame the victim for her own abuse means stories like these are good things. Anything that educates people.
But most people aren't reading this story, they're reading about Chris and Rihanna "reconciling". Education is subverted in the mad media world.
What disturbs me is the 'engineering' of this reconciliation by the record companies and handlers of these two people. Rihanna is twice victimized to save this fools butt and the bottom line of the music companies involved.
You ask ''Is Rihanna the New Nicole Brown Simpson?
Is the msm trying to paint young Chris Brown as the new OJ Simpson?
The MSM's practice of sensationalizing and race baiting is precisly why many celebrities prevail in these cases and the rest is history.
Ms. Fairstein is obviously an authority and I'm in agreement with her comments.
My comments are with other points in her article.
Safe Horizons may be the leading organization that gathers statistics but they are, on the street level, inactive. They have a high profile following, celebrity endorsements who give their support and lend their name to a worthy cause and unless you fall into a profiled category they refuse to assist.
As a pioneer of Victim's Rights law, Ms. Fairstein, is only to aware of the process that await Victim/survivors. It is cruel and unusual punishment after surviving an attack. The Detectives, in sexual assault cases, often create victim's culpability through innuendo of consent.
The Hudson County, NJ detectives and prosecutors have intentionally stopped the investigation into what I call The Victim X case. The lead detective acts as if he doesn't even know the case. He acts like a typical abuser who assaults and then forgets all about his actions as you, the Victim, walk through the carnage of your life. The one thing both the NYPD, Hudson County, NJ Detectives and others who know the law do understand are the seven necessary factors needed to induce victims to commit suicide and Hudson County has employed every tactic.
The NYPD was involved and has intentionally lied on official documents for and this is a direct quote, "to protect the old man." Who is that "old man" Ms. Fairstein? Your lengthy tenure in the Manhattan DA would have allowed you privilege to Mr. Morganthau's thought and "deals." What alleged deals were made that have stopped prosecution on "the old man?" Why is it that certain precinct's on Manhattan upper west side allow special privileges not the wealthy or the chosen but those who claim allegiance?
Why is it that those privileges extend to rape, robbery and other violent crimes? Why is it now that those privileges extend across the Hudson and possibly wherever the intended target went? Why are corporate attorneys given a get out of jail free card and a pass to commit crime?
Everything that happened to Rihanna will happen again to some one less well known and to someone well known. It happened to Tina Turner, Nicole brown Simpson, and every minute of every day to someone some where. Until the police and detectives just don't care anymore.
This blog post won't make a difference either. Due to the fact that the attorney's are very vocal about what they got away with and the church is equally vocal about their actions and what they got away with, and that they have been given the keys to the city. The tsunami of criminal activity from Hudson County has left carnage in many lives and again the system prefers to look away and when you need to system to be equal - it won't be.
Lady Justice is blind so that those that commit the crime can get away with it.
You don't need an "expert" to know that this young woman's days are numbered, and the number isn't very large. Without help, there is no hope for her. Even if she leaves the punk, she'll choose a similarly disturbed partner next time, and things will get worse. All of these so-called "experts," if they were human and actually cared about anything other than themselves, would need only three words, addressed to Rihanna: "Get help now."
She should get out while she is still alive. There will be plenty of other guys out there besides this abusive one.
The simple answer to your question is, no, she isn't the new Nicole Simpson. She's alive right now, but if she doesn't listen to her head instead of her hormones, she will be before long.
Let's hope she wises up. And let's hope Mr. Brown gets a nice, long sentence.
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Bottom line. If she goes back to him then she deserves whatever she gets from him after that point.
Rhianna is like Nicole Brown because she is involved with a powerful, wealthy man who beats her. Abuse is not, and has never been, an issue of race.
Victims of abuse can rarely get out of the abusive situation without outside help. In this case, it appears that the outside help is trying to push Rhianna back into a clearly abusive, violent relationship, reassuring her that she over-reacted, that it will never hapen again, that somehow it was all a misunderstanding.
Likely, inside her head, she believes these things. after all, he has been telling her that, along with "I love you", all along. If she believes that she didn't cause this, then she has to accept that he doesn't love her, she thinks. She sees it as an all or nothing issue. Either he is 100% right, or he is 100% wrong. She cannot accept either answer. That is why she needs serious professional help.
How do i know? I have been there.
This isn't just purient gossip for me. This is my life, and the lives of countless others, mostly women. By all means, let's limit the slander, innuendo and salaciousness of this conversation, but by all means, let us keep the discussion going. For some, this may mean the difference betwen life and death, quite literally.
With so many mainstream reports indicating people think that the man has the right to abuse "his" women, looks like the Taliban have a ready resource for converts here in America. How can we expect to defeat them in Afghanistan if their mentality is so prevalent here ?
The most important women in my life, including my mother, grandmother, sisters and lovers have all experienced either emotional, physical and/or sexual abuse. Abuse is a horrible cycle that passes from generation to generation. The police our not capable or motivated to stop it for very complicated reasons. It's emotionally devastating for one. The only way it's going to stop is when we start having honest conversations about it without sensationalizing it. Just mentioning OJ threw this one off track.
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Throw the book at him. Lock the animal up. They need to save this woman's life. She is in a crisis situation. Our youth are watching. This is one teachable moment. What will it teach?
I'm seriously tired of these hairshirt lectures on Rihanna and Chris Brown. Apparently, the only time nice, white folks care about domestic abuse in lower income and minority communities is when famous people from those backgrounds "betray" them into thinking that they're the standard bearers of social norms.
People who grow up in troubled and/or abusive households often struggle with maintaining healthy relationships -- and both Brown (abusive stepfather) and Fenty (drug addicted father) are prime examples.
Thank you.
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