Rowland announced that Brown, who infamously punched Rihanna in 2009 and has faced multiple recent allegations of violence against women, had won for Favorite Male R&B Artist, prompting some boos in the Microsoft Theatre.
“Excuse me,” Rowland said. “Chill out.”
Rowland then praised Brown. “I wanna tell Chris thank you so much for making great R&B music. And I wanna tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award, bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations.”
