Fans didn’t like this math equation. Added together, the sum of Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur is Chris Brown, according to Justin Bieber — and the anger piled on when he asked fans to not focus on CB’s ‘mistake.’
Justin Bieber’s latest defense of his longtime collaborator and friend Chris Brown, 29, was met with outrage and lost Instagram followers. The 25-year-old pop star was fed up with the hate against Breezy, and so he took to Instagram to post this math equation: “MJ + 2 Pac = CB” (AKA, Michael Jackson + Tupac Shakur = Chris Brown). Justin then launched into a lecture in his May 3 post, captioning it, “Everyone wants to wait til people die To give them the credit they deserve. I’m calling it now when CB passes away after a long full life, you will miss what you had in front of you the whole time … trust me watch you will see. the people who have over looked this mans talent because of a mistake he made.. you need to reevaluate! Love you.”
Fans assumed that the “mistake” Justin referred to was Chris’ attack on his girlfriend at the time, Rihanna, 31, which led him to plead guilty to a felony assault in 2009. Justin’s followers didn’t agree with his choice of words. “I love you Justin but i can’t agree with you on this. Beating a woman isn’t just a mistake,” one such fan commented, while another wrote, “You can’t respect Rihanna if you are supporting Chris. Rihanna is more legendary that is facts. If u beat Hailey would u think that was a mistake we should get over?” A third fan used all-caps: “DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ISN’T A MISTAKE!”
Some fans were peeved by the comparisons to MJ and Tupac. “Dont disrespect Tupac like this 😒,” a follower commented, while others were disappointed to see that Justin also idolized MJ in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations against the pop icon that surfaced in the 2019 Leaving Neverland documentary, after he passed away in 2009. However, not everyone slammed Justin in the comments section, including celebrities Marlon Wayans, J Balvin and Sean Kingston. Nick Cannon apparently took credit for creating the math equation, as he wrote, “I made this a while ago for my lil bro🙏🏾.”
Chris and Rihanna have since made peace since that dark night before the 2009 Grammys, and briefly dated again between 2012 and 2013. On the same day Justin posted his defensive words, Breezy even left high praise underneath his ex-girlfriend’s sexy lingerie post on Instagram on May 3. “BOUGHT TO BREAK DA INTERNET. KEEP RISING QUEEN,” the “Loyal” singer wrote, and pleaded in another comment, “MUSIC SOON PLEASE.”