Popular image sharing networks like Instagram, We Heart It, and Tumblr all have tags like #TeamBreezy or #Chrianna, full of images paying tribute to Chris Brown and Rihanna's relationship.
Many of the photos focus on the "tragic romance" of Brown and Rihanna or Rihanna's strength for standing by Brown despite widespread criticism.
The phrase "nobody's business" pops up in a lot of the fan art.
The phrase comes from the title of a duet between Rihanna and Brown on her most recent album, "Unapologetic."
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Here are some lyrics from "Nobody's Business":
"You'll always be mine, sing it to the world
Always be my boy, I'll always be your girl
Nobody's business, ain't nobody's business
Ain't nobody's business,
But mine, and my baby
Mine, and my baby,
But mine, and my baby
But mine, and my baby, ooh"
A lot of the image macros and tweets also portray Brown as a redemptive figure, like a fallen hero.
Chris Brown support pages are popular on Facebook and Twitter.
Yahoo Answers doesn't offer a definitive answer regarding Chris Brown's appeal to his fans, but it does offer an interesting perspective.
Many of Brown's fans consider the media's attack on him a form of cyberbullying.
There is a second Chris Brown relationship fandom called #Chrae, focused on the relationship between Chris Brown and his ex, model Karrueche Tran.
The #Chrianna (Chris + Rihanna) fan group regularly fights with them, and consider themselves to be the ones who care the most about Brown.
This is from a pro-Chris Brown and Rihanna tumblr called XChrianna
"The difference between Chrianna & Chrae is that we ( Chrianna ) care about Chris feelings when he's down, we don't bash him or turn on him when something happens. if he's in a bad situation, we don't worry about if he's Rih with or Kae. we SUPPORT him. unlike Chrae, his personal life is not everything to us. We care about him and His music, and we show him that we're here for him no matter what.
*He's going through a tough time right now, and I love how he's staying positive."
In 2009, The New York Times actually covered a survey of 200 teenagers who were asked about Chris Brown and Rihanna
For context, remember that in 2009, the incident had just happened. The results of the survey, taken by the Boston Public Health Commission, are startling:
"46 percent said Rihanna was responsible for what happened; 52 percent said both bore responsibility, despite knowing that Rihanna's injuries required hospital treatment. On a Facebook discussion, one girl wrote, 'she probly ran into a door and was too embarrassed so blamed it on chris.'"
Chris Brown attacked Rihanna in February of 2009, and in December of 2009 he released his third studio album, "Graffiti."
He's released two albums since then. "F.A.M.E," in 2011...
...and "Fortune" in 2012.
We don't have an updated survey of how teenagers view Chris Brown and Rihanna, but we have record sales and fan art:
• Graffiti sold 102,489 copies in its first week, and has sold 341,000 copies to date. It was nominated for two Grammy Awards, Best Contemporary R&B Album and Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
• F.A.M.E. debuted at number one of the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, selling more than 500,000 copies. It was nominated for three Grammy Awards, going on to two Best R&B Album.
• Fortune also debuted at number one, selling 135,000 copies in its first week. It was nominated for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
Since 2009, Chris Brown has been nominated for nine Grammys and won one. He's also sold over 1.5 million copies of his last three albums combined.
Spinner Editor Dan Reilly wrote about Chris Brown's visibility in November:
It was Reilly's opinion that Brown's inability to stop being a petulant child in the media was the cause of the disproportionate attention Brown received for his domestic violence:
But until something like that happens -- and it will, barring an epic evolutionary leap or divine intervention -- we're going to hear more about Chris Brown, celebrity abuser number one. You might be sick of the attention he gets, and that is completely his fault -- he's not getting out of his own way. You might believe it's an injustice that other famous men aren't held as accountable for their actions, and that's most definitely true.
This raises the uncomfortable question of whether things like this:
...leads directly to fan art like this.
If the media insists on making Brown a villain, does it just encourage his fans to think of him as an underdog?
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Or is it progress to call out a pop star for domestic violence when there was silence about this sort of thing in the past?
