Chris Brown hits back at AMAs for scrapping his Michael Jackson tribute

Chris Brown’s performance at Sunday’s American Music Awards has reportedly been cancelled at the last minute, according to TMZ.

On Saturday, November 19th, 2022, Brown took to Instagram and posted a video from rehearsals that showed the singer perform a lengthy routine. The routine was supposed to be a tribute to the legendary King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

The Forever crooner showed off his MJ-inspired moves with a crew of backup dancers. The set opened with the track Under the Influence and then 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 Beat It, Billie Jean, Wanna Be Starting Something and Thriller.

“U SERIOUS? [face palm emoji]” Brown originally captioned his post before following up with a later comment, writing, “WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown.”

The performance presumably would have celebrated the 40th anniversary of Jackson’s best-selling album Thriller, which includes all four of the songs Brown rehearsed to. Thriller was released on Nov. 30, 1982, via Entertainment Tonight.

While the AMAs have not responded to the cancellation of Brown’s set for the show, there is speculation that it may have been due to the renewed allegations of child molestation against MJ. Particularly, after two accusers starred in the 2019 HBO docuseries Leaving Neverland on the subject, via New York Post.

Furthermore, Brown also notoriously famous for assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, for which she had to be hospitalised. Brown, who was 19 at the time, later pleaded guilty to one count of felony assault.