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Bobby Brown Not Down with Radio Gig
03/02/2007 9:35 AM, E! Online
Josh Grossberg
Freeing Bobby Brown isn't all it's cracked up to be.
One day after the entertainer was sprung from a Massachusetts jail cell, there are divergent opinions over who ponied up the $19,000 in back child-support payments to get him out and whether Brown welched on a promise to a radio station.
Here's what we know for sure. Brown got of the Norfolk County lockup about 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday and his brother, Tommy, was the one who delivered the check for $19,150.
After that things get confusing.
On Thursday afternoon, the Washington, D.C.-based Hot 99.5 WIHT-FM issued a press release saying it had come up with the dough in exchange for Brown agreeing to work for the station next week during the 5:30-10 morning show. The station said it was giving the trouble-prone musician/reality star a "second chance" and the opportunity to be a was to discuss his woes and "positive role model for the Washington, D.C., community."
Come Friday morning, though, the deal was off, with Brown and Hot 99.5 deejay Kane getting into a heated onair exchange.
Bobby: "You paid me some chips to be on your radio station."
Kane: "We didn't pay you to be on the radio station. We paid to get you out of jail."
Brown: "No, I was already out."
When asked where he got the money, Brown said he didn't know.
"So you snowed us," Kane said, "Through your attorney you went ahead and lied to us."
Speaking to E! Online later Friday, Kane said, "We have officially rescinded the offer to Bobby. We spoke with his attorney today and we decided it was in both of our best interests to agree to disagree and once we talked to him this morning, it was clear we weren't on the same page. The money will now be refunded and will be given to a D.C. charity."
According to Kane, the Clear Channel-owned outlet put up the money and secured Brown's release Wednesday night after negotiating with his Atlanta-based attorney, Phaedra Parks.
But, a rep for the Norfolk County sheriff confirmed that it was Tommy Brown who delivered the cash, thereby, to the mind of Brown camp, overriding the deal with Hot 99.5.
"We believe Tommy put up the money because he knew he was going to get the money from us the next day," Kane said, adding that Bobby Brown was more than happy to agree to Hot 99's terms when he was still behind bars.
However, Tommy Brown told E! Online Friday that his brother wasn't even aware of the proposal until his agent heard about it on Yahoo and Bobby was already out of jail by the time the radio station issued its statement.Tommy Brown said he called the station's management, who told him they were entertaining the idea of having the artist on for a week without realizing he was already out. Tommy also said there was "never any deal" for his brother to appear in person.
Brown's Atlanta-based atorney, Phaedra Parks, added that three other radio stations in different parts of the country made the same offer, but "not a penny of [Hot 99's] money they supposedly bailed him out with went to anything."
"I said send me your offer over and I'll review and they went head on reporting to their local TV station saying they're bailing bobby out," the legal eagle said. "In the midst of that, his brother bailed him out of jail. I never received a formal offer or proposal contract until Thursday afternoon. . .It's a publicity stunt. I don't know if they ever had a possible intentions other than to emasculate him."
As for the musician getting on the phone with Kane on Friday, Parks said Brown actually considered taking him up on the offer anyway, thinking it might be good publicity, but felt ambushed during the conversation when the deejay's probing about his paternal responsibilities suggested he was" predisposed" against him.
Bobby Brown was jailed on a warrant for failing to live up to a court-ordered payment schedule for his two children, LaPrincia, 17, and Bobby Jr., 15, with ex-girlfriend Kim Ward. If he hadn't come up with the $19,000, he would have faced up to 90 days behind bars.
On Thursday, the day after his release, Brown appeared in court and paid Ward an additional $8,589 to cover March's child support payments and medical fees. He also got a reprimand from Judge Paula Carey.
"This really shouldn't be the way we do this," she told Brown's family court attorney, Melissa Whish. "He really needs to pay this money on the first of every month."
Following the hearing, Whish told reporters that despite Brown's fame, her client has simply had bad luck finding work.
Radio stations, apparently, notwithstanding.
Meanwhile, Brown, who's in the midst of a divorce from Whitney Houston, said he plans to visit their daughter, Bobbi Kristina, Sunday in Los Angeles to celebrate her 14th birthday.
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