Bobby Brown found fame in the 1980s as an R&B and hip hop pioneer, then gained a shameful notoriety in the 1990s amid allegations of wife-beating and drug abuse during his marriage to Whitney Houston.
via: Vibe
R&B legend and “The King of R&B” Bobby Brown has revealed that he was sexually molested by a priest as a child during an interview teasing his forthcoming A&E episode of Biography: Bobby Brown, set to air on the network later this month. Brown, who came to fame as a member of the iconic R&B group New Edition during the ’80s before branching off into a successful solo career, detailed the encounter, which occurred after he was placed under the care of the priest by the state.
“When my mother was arrested, I was sent to temporary custody by social services which was supposed to be a religious place,” recalled the “My Prerogative” singer. “It was not a nice place to be as a child. One of the priests tried to molest me.” Brown continued, adding, “He [the priest] tried to touch my private parts. There was no penetration or anything. He touched my privates and I didn’t like that. I punched and kicked and punched some more until he got away from me; so I ran away from there as quickly as possible.”
Brown admitted the incident with the priest “confused” him, and that the experience has stuck with him to this day. “At that time, I was a young boy. I didn’t know what sexual boundaries were. I just knew I didn’t like being touched. Some things are hard to forget.”
Other topics from the interview include witnessing the stabbing death of his best friend over a bicycle at age 12, his mother being assaulted by police, battling a sex addiction at the height of his fame, and his relationships with megastars Janet Jackson and Madonna.
“Did I sleep with Madonna? We didn’t do any sleeping,” shared Brown of his dealings with the Material Girl. “That just happened. I don’t even know how it happened. I don’t believe she knows how it happened. She probably knows how it happened, but we didn’t do no sleeping.”
In regards to Jackson, whom Brown dated prior to his relationship with late R&B legend Whitney Houston, the crooner admits to being smitten with the songstress, but that his hardscrabble roots in the streets of Boston prevented the pair from ever becoming anything more.
“And then there was Janet Jackson, I had a big crush on Janet. What was it about Janet? Everything. Her little smile, body, her dance moves, her little laugh.” Yet, Brown revealed that it was Jackson who decided to end things, explaining that she “couldn’t be with a man like myself.”
Part one of Biography: Bobby Brown airs on A&E on Monday, May 30, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The second portion of the episode will air the following day on Tuesday, May 31 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
In addition to the Biography: Bobby Brown two-night event, on Tuesday, May 31, A&E will premiere the first episode of the new series Bobby Brown: Every Little Step, which airs at 10 p.m. ET/PT with new episodes airing on Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT beginning June 7.
