I almost don’t want to cover this, because I don’t want to believe that there are people in this world who think like this. Chris Brown’s cousin told Extra! that he must have been provoked since he wasn’t “brought up to beat on a woman.” It’s clear that he was raised in an environment in which that type of thing is tolerated, though, if his own cousin would say something so offensive:

Earlier today, Brown’s stepdad spoke out denying that he had ever been abusive to Brown’s mother–something the singer vehemently disagreed with in a 2007 interview. And now, the R&B singer’s cousin has stepped forward, making a controversial claim to Extra.

In a new interview airing tonight, Phylicia Thompson says of her cousin, “Chris was not brought up to beat on a woman. So it had to be something to provoke him for Chris to do it.”

Thompson continues, “He wouldn’t have done it just to be having fun…But what happens behind closed doors, nobody ever knows.”

[From OK! Magazine]

There are all sorts of stories about why Chris and Rihanna got in a fight, with many focusing on a potential booty-call text message that Chris received. It makes absolutely no difference to me what they were arguing about if the result of that argument is that Rihanna was choked into an unconsciousness, beaten about the face and bitten, and left there.

There is almost no excuse apart from extreme self defense that can justify that type of barbaric act. No one ever “has that coming,” no one can ever justify nearly killing someone else, and no one can ever “provoke” someone into strangling them and beating them black and blue unless they are being attacked and defending themselves, and it seems incredibly unlikely that was the case. These were two people that were in a relationship and one, the woman, ended up left there passed out with a split lip, black eyes, and bite marks. It’s hard to imagine any type of scenario in which Brown would fear for his life and inflict that kind of damage, but it’s easy to see how he might justify it in his twisted logic if his family is defending him by assuming he was provoked. He came from an environment in which he saw abuse against women and somehow thinks they have it coming. Instead of being a real man and breaking that chain of abuse he went on to continue it, and he should lose any chance at a career in the public spotlight if that’s indeed what happened. It’s looking more like that’s the case given the way he’s responded to it – by blaming the victim.

For those of you who think there is ever a scenario in a relationship where this is ok, I am so very sorry for you. You should never have to witness that type of thing at any stage of your life, particularly as a child, and you should never feel that you have to accept brutality in a relationship for any reason.

Chris Brown is shown on 2/6/09 at a pre-Grammy party