SALON

Tuesday, Feb 5, 2013 11:00 PM UTC

Breezy’s crew hurled an epithet at Ocean

A new police report claims that someone in Chris Brown's entourage yelled a homophobic slur at the R&B singer

By

Topics: Chris Brown, Frank Ocean, fight, Homophobia, faggot, sexuality, Music, rap music,

Breezy's crew hurled an epithet at Ocean(Credit: Joe Kohen/invision/ap)

Although R&B singer Frank Ocean has since forgiven rapper Chris Brown for allegedly attacking him in a recording studio parking lot, new details continue to emerge about the highly publicized brawl. TMZ has today obtained the incident report in which Ocean told police that Brown and his entourage jumped him and called him a faggot. TMZ reports:

Ocean told police Brown tried to shake his hand, but Ocean refused, telling Brown he was in his parking spot. Ocean claimed that’s when Brown punched him in the face. According to the report, Ocean said two of Brown’s goons then jumped in to help Brown … pushed him into a corner and attempted to kick him.

Ocean — who revealed last year that he’d once had a romantic relationship with a man — also said he believes he heard someone yell “faggot!” but he’s unsure who made the statement.

Unfortunately, the attack itself, coming from the volatile rapper who’s become notorious for an explosive temper, isn’t totally shocking. But the slur sort of is. When Ocean revealed his same-sex love relationship on his Tumblr account last year, Brown offered support in a largely homophobic rap community, tweeting: “My Opinion on the whole Frank Ocean subject is ……… Love who u wanna love. It’s ur decision. People stop searching for BS. Everyone is so quick to point the wrong fingers at each other! Ask urself… Am I Doing everything I can to help the world ????”

And what’s more curious is that the comment — which had the potential to amplify the backlash against Brown and Team Breezy — didn’t surface until now. Neither Ocean nor those in his group mentioned the slur when discussing the fight.

But Ocean’s handling of his coming out might itself suggest why he and his crew dropped it, because to Ocean, his identity as a musician has never been about his sexuality. He said to GQ in November about his coming out, “If I’m going to say this, I’m going to be better than all you pieces of shit. What you going to say now? You can’t say, ‘Oh, they’re only listening to him because he said this.’ No, they’re listening to me because I’m gifted, and this project is brilliant.” He added that, “I’m not a centerfold. I’m not trying to sell you sex. People should pay attention to that in the letter: I didn’t need to label it for it to have impact.”

And just like his music, Ocean didn’t need to fight Chris Brown to have an impact. He needed to forgive him.

Prachi Gupta

Prachi Gupta is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on pop culture. Follow her on Twitter at @prachigu or email her at pgupta@salon.com. More Prachi Gupta.

Next Article

You Might Also Like

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

Gripping photos: The people of the Turkey protests (slideshow)

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • The protests take on a festive element as police forces move out of the park and square. Wearing a gas mask, this young man dances to traditional Turkish music in front of Taksim Square’s Ataturk Monument.

  • In Gezi Park since March 31st, this protester, originally caught off-guard by the Government’s teargas and water cannons, went out and bought a Russian army mask from WWII, preparing for what was to come.

  • This rambunctious boy seems to be enjoying the chaos. After taking this picture he threw a stone at the already destroyed building in the background.

  • Forming a line, the police face off directly with protesters in Taksim Square. After a while, they retreated and there was a general cheer – a back-and-forth dance that has been common since the beginning of this protest.

  • An elderly woman in Gezi Park reads the news. The tent community occupying the park was violently destroyed on June 16th.

  • Many different groups had set up booths to promote their cause in Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Standing in front of one, this man waves his flag while posing with conviction.

  • Many home-remedies are used to minimize the effects of tear gas. This woman has put a milky solution on her face, removing her mask after the tear gas dissipated. Before sunrise, the police came again for another round of teargasing.

  • People capitalize on the uprising -- selling flags, beer, gas masks, sky lanterns and spray paint to name just a few of the popular items.

  • On Monday morning, June 11, the police execute a strong offensive. Many plain-clothed police officers, like the ones seen here, clash with protesters in the side streets away from the main stand-off in Taksim.

  • The authorities seem to be most aggressive in the night, pushing protesters away from the square and park. After being teargassed this young woman catches her breath with other protesters on Siraselviler Street.

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

More Related Stories

Comments

 2 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username ( settings | log out )

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Video of the Day

Watch More Here »

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: "We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves": Growing up primate

Recommendations