- Chris Brown music ban on WBLI In response to R&B singer Chris Brown's arrest for an alleged assault reportedly against his longtime girlfriend Rihanna in Los Angeles, WBLI (106.1-FM) plans to pull all of Brown's songs from its rotation Friday and poll listeners on whether they should be reinstated.
"Yes, you are innocent until proven guilty," said Jeremy Rice, WBLI's program director. "But right now, he looks pretty damn guilty. He hasn't given any statement. He hasn't come on BLI or a station in Los Angeles to explain. If it's true, we need him to do an A-Rod. We need a little bit more from him right now."
WBLI joins stations in Cleveland and Indianapolis in pulling Brown's music from their airwaves. "It's a big risk for us to pull off an artist that helps us with our ratings," said Rice, adding that the station is currently playing "Forever" and "With You." "I don't think I know everything that happened. But we're going to let listeners decide."
(Currently, the vote is 51-49% against banning Brown's songs. Rice said his staff was divided on the issue as well.)
The station is also planning a "Shred Your Ex" demonstration at its West Babylon studios on Friday morning, inviting members of Rihanna's fanclub to shred Brown's CDs and posters. "Whether you're a Rihanna fan or not, we can all empathize with being with someone who caused love to go wrong," said Nancy Cambino, WBLI's operations manager.
Los Angeles prosecutors have asked police for more evidence before deciding what charges should be brought against Brown regarding the incident early Sunday morning, according to the Associated Press. Brown remains free on $50,000 bail on felony charges of making threats.
Following the incident, both Brown and Rihanna canceled their Grammy appearances. Brown has also cancelled his appearance at this weekend's NBA All-Star Game, while Rihanna has pulled out of a concert in Malaysia and her 21st birthday party in New York next week has been cancelled.
http://weblogs.newsday.com/entertainment/music/blog/2009/02/wbli_to_stop_playing_chris_bro.html
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