Hollywood the double standard - My Take

Heart throbs Usher, Justin Timberlake and Chris Brown are carrying the torch of Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, James Brown and Michael Jackson.  These gentleman have giant footsteps to fill, if they can do it.  Hollywood is a fame game, with fame comes insecurities, the greater the fame, the larger your insecurities become, the bigger your entourage gets, and the real core people who kept you grounded seem to have disappeared because you no longer want to hear the truth, you only want to hear the things that will pump your ego, better known as 'yes' people.  The entertainment industry is a business FIRST, and few realize that.  For a black artist the rules are totally different, you're not granted complete access, things change for you if you're a full cross-over artist, but the vulchers lay and wait for you to make a mistake, then  you're considered a criminal, a hoodlum or a thug, like most of the world views the plight of the misunderstood black man.  When you're in the public eye like it or not, you have a responsibility and you must govern yourself according.  You are now held to a different standard, people are in your face, in your business, and to top it off, your performances can not fail.  With all that said scrutiny will become a part of your life.  If this ever gets to be too much for you, remember this is the career path that you choose. 

The Entertainment field is built on image and is largely for the youth, to a 14 year old, a 24 year old is pretty much considered over the hill if you can believe that.  To stay relevant, entertainers 'teams' will spin it however they see fit, to generate interest and stay vital.  Usher Raymond's mega selling "Confessions" was populated by 'scandal' at the time the CD was released, he had just admitted to cheating, his relationship with Chili from the group "TLC".  Sharing all the good and bad of that relationship helped him to become the biggest selling r&ampb star of the decade selling over 10 million copies.  Unfortunately his star has deemed somewhat, which I think it owed to the constant marketing manipulation of his team and his marriage and divorce scandal and a 'then' new comer Chris Brown coming on the scene and capturing the hearts of America with his terrific dance moves.

Chris Brown is a charismatic artist who had America eating out of his hands, he had crossover hits, charm, appeal and packaging.  Clearly he is the current day best male dancer in the business, surpassing Usher Raymond's throne, very reminiscent of the great legendary Michael Jackson.  The world seemed to be his, he was all over the charts, had endorsement deals, money, fame and Rihanna on his arm as his girlfriend.  Then one February night in 2009, his world came crashing down, a 911 call came in from Rihanna saying that she had been beaten by Chris Brown, then ALL hell broke loose. The endorsements ended, the media scrutinized him, and the music stop.  His followers who were of all nationalities abandoned him with the exception of the black community.  He now has a reputation of being a hot head, constantly getting into trouble with an uncontrollable temper.  A court order injunction to do community service and to attend anger management counseling sessions. He and Rihanna had a court order that kept them away from each other for over three years.  In that time he worked on rebuilding his career, he released F.A.M.E. in February of 2011, it debut at #1.  He and Rihanna became friendly again and recorded several songs together AND have been rumored to be dating again, along with his jumpoff that doesn't seem to be going away anytime soon.  Brown is still a ticking time bomb, so we will see how it all plays out,  and NOW comes the new incident of the brawl with him and Frank Ocean ..... Chris wtf is going on with you?  I'm clearly on Team Breezy, but I don't give passes for poor behavior.

Justin Timberlake from the Mickey Mouse club, to N-Sync to solo artist.  Timberlake has charm and pop appeal, for years his squeaky image was so in demand, he sought out all the big names in Hip Hop from Pharrell, Snoop Dogg, Brian McKnight to Timbaland.  His debut "Justified" CD was well received and peaked @ #2.  He flashes the great smile and all the little girls loved and adored him.  He dated Britney Spears and Cameron Diaz and broke both of their hearts, he was with Diaz for four years.   He did a few movies nothing really successful, but a very decent actor, he made a few very well received appearances on SNL, with the famous spoof  "Dick In A Box".   All that charm then comes the hiccup, he performed with Janet Jackson at the Superbowl and gave life to "nipplegate" he pulled off Janet's flap on her jacket and  exposed her bare breast, 'supposedly" it was an "accident".  Now this is where the double standard comes into play, Janet Jackson caught all the heat, while Timberlake was forgiven.  He showed his true 'white' card pass and ran for cover, he didnt' come to Jackson's defense, until years later when it was time for him to release 'Future Sex/Love Sounds which debut at #1 on the Pop chart, while Jackson has never recovered for the debacle.  Timberlake admitted that he left her in a lurch.  Now if that had been Britney Spears performing at half time and say rapper 50 Cent had pulled her blouse off, ALL HELL WOULD HAVE  BROKEN LOOSE and he would've been regarded as an ANIMAL attacking poor Britney, that's my point.  Recently Timberlake married actress Jessica Biel and he just released his new single "Shirt and Tie" (which is currently my favorite song), from his forthcoming 20/20 cd.