Kelly Rowland has been criticized after doubling down on her AMAs speech, stating that Chris Brown deserves "grace" and "forgiveness."
On Sunday (November 20), the 41-year-old singer attended one of the biggest award show events of the year, where she honored Chris Brown as this year's Favourite Male RnB Singer.
However, the audience in attendance didn't seem too keen on the winner, which resulted in a chorus of boos echoing around the Microsoft Theater - much to Rowland's surprise.
Speaking over the reaction of the crowd, the former Destiny's Child member told everyone that the 33-year-old singer was not present at the show and that she would be accepting the award on his behalf. But when the crowd continued to be unsettled, the singer lifted a finger in the air and told the audience to "chill out" before thanking Brown for "making great RnB music."
Check out the uncomfortable moment below:"I'll take this award [and] bring it to you. I love you. Congratulations, and congratulations to all the nominees in this category," she concluded.
After the show, fans took to Twitter to call out the 'Dilemma' singer, wondering why she would defend Brown so openly, especially given his history of violence towards women.
"Kelly Rowland defending Chris Brown, an abuser and discriminatory a**hat against dark-skinned Black women. Embarrassing for her," wrote one user.
Now in a new interview with TMZ, she doubled down on her controversial decision, saying that Chris Brown deserves "forgiveness."
Rowland told the publication: "You know what?" I believe that grace is very real and we all need a dose of it."
She continued: "And before we point fingers at anybody, we should realize how grateful we are for every moment that we get.
"I just think it's important to remember to be human. We are humans."
The interviewer then asks Rowland directly if she believes that Brown should be forgiven for what he did.
"We all need to be forgiven for anything that we could be doing... [or] thinking. We all come up short in some sort of way and grace is real... And everybody deserves grace. Period," she concluded.
But it's no surprise that the internet wasn't in a forgiving mood.
"Did she see Rihanna’s face after it happened?!?!? That is UNFORGIVABLE," one person tweeted in response.
"Let me say this about the Black community and that 'we must forgive' s*** Kelly Rowland pulled, F***. IT. People who perpetuate the same harmful behavior do not deserve forgiveness. They have not learned anything but how to benefit from this cycle of 'do harm & be forgiven,'" another user tweeted.
However, some people did jump to the singer's defense thanking her for taking a stand.
"What exactly did Kelly Rowland say that so many people are upset about. You are upset that she is professional? Or that she extends grace? I hope people learn to forgive and extend grace really," one fan tweeted.
"Americans hardly forgive like it's been more than 7 years now and they still hating on Breezy even after apologizing. What was that negative energy at the AMAs all about? Thanks to Kelly Rowland for controlling that sha [sic]."