For reasons known only to God and Faraday Future, the nascent electric vehicle maker has brought Chris Brown – yes, that Chris Brown – on board as its “Developer Co-Creation Officer.” Brown has – the say the least – an incredibly sordid past filled with fights with other rappers, not paying back loans, numerous domestic violence allegations, and a rape allegation.
But, he’s a good performer, so I guess Faraday is fine with looking past these mostly heinous situations. YT Jia, company cofounder and Chief Product and User Ecosystem Officer (whatever that means) made the announcement with Brown and added that the rapper – and guy who should probably be in jail – would be the next FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance owner.
“We are excited to welcome global music star Chris Brown as another influential FF Spire User and Developer Co-Creation Officer at FF. This Co-Creation collaboration not only reflects the acknowledgment of FF and its products by prominent icons, but also underscores the value and advantages of FF and its Developer Co-Creation model within the entertainment and music business,” Jia said in a statement.
Other than being a very successful singer and dancer, Brown is probably most well known for his domestic violence incident with singer Rihanna back in 2009 that left her with severe facial injuries. After pleading guilty to a felony and accepting a plea deal, he was sentenced to community labor, five years of probation, and domestic violence counseling.
It clearly didn’t stick. In 2016, a woman called police accusing Brown of threatening her with a gun inside his house. He wouldn’t let them in, and it eventually became a standoff. Eventually, Brown was arrested and released on $250,000 bail. Charges were later dropped after prosecutors decided not to arraign Brown on felony charges, and Brown sued the accuser for defamation.
In January 2022, another woman filed a $20 million civil suit against Brown, accusing him of raping her on a yacht in Miami in December 2020. He denied the allegations and said the relationship with consensual. Brown apparently plans to countersue after the lawsuit was dropped in August 2022.
There are also a number of fights with other performers, an alleged hit-and-run situation in Los Angeles, and a $2 million lawsuit over an unpaid Popeyes chicken loan.
For the life of me, I cannot understand why a car company – especially one that can use all the goodwill it can get right now – would bring Chris Brown on board, but what do I know?
I reached out to Faraday Future for a comment on this matter, and we will update this article if we get a response.