Chris Brown Set Free From the Philippines
After being barred from leaving the Philippines due to a contract dispute with a religious group, Chris Brown has finally been given clearance to depart. Breezy left the country on Friday (July 24), headed for Hong Kong at 9:04 p.m. local time, reports The Associated Press.
The 26-year-old seemed relieved as he made his departure, as indicated from a video he posted to his Twitter account. "Manila, it was fun. I love y'all man," he said in the clip.
The Philippine Department of Justice reported that it issued an order earlier this week preventing the "Ayo" singer from leaving the country over a contract dispute. Prior to his departure, the singer took to Twitter protesting that he had nothing to do with the dispute — He has since deleted the series of tweets. The said dispute involved a New Year's Eve concert that Brown allegedly failed to perform at.
Both the singer and a promoter were reportedly paid $1 million in advance for the New Year's Eve gig at the 55,000-seat Phlippine Arena. He apparently canceled without returning the cash.
Now that Brown is out of the picture, the church that was linked to the dispute is back in focus, accused of carrying out a series of abductions and misusing funds.
According to the New York Times, the Philippine government opened an investigation on Friday into the allegations that the advisory Council of Iglesia ni Cristo, or Church of Christ, was accountable for "abducting ministers critical of church leaders and financial abuse."
The news from the Justice Department comes off of the heels of reports that corruption and internal feuds were occurring in the church, which has been controlled by the founder's family for two generations.
As for the rest of the road trip, Breezy hit the stage in Macau and gave fans a treat they didn't expect. The singer performed his own rendition of former flame, Rihanna's "B***h Better Have My Money."
BET.com is your #1 source for Black celebrity news, photos, exclusive videos and all the latest in the world of hip hop and R&B music.
(Photo: Chelsea Lauren/Getty Images for NYLON)
