Chris Brown's Mom Defends Controversial Costume, Says 'Halloween Is For Fun'

Chris Brown turned some heads this week when he posted a controversial photo on Instragram of himself and his pals seemingly dressed as Arab warriors, complete with long beards, turbans and flowing robes. Brown accessorized the look by holding a rifle above his head and wrapping a pair of bullet belts around his torso. "Ain't nobody F---ing wit my clique!!! #ohb," Brown wrote on Instagram before attending Rihanna's West Hollywood Halloween party. While a number of Brown's fans defended his costume choice with comments like, "Imma say it like Breezy says it, ... F--- your opinions!!," some Instagram commenters just didn't get the joke. One wrote, "When people dress up as Mexican and native Indian called cultural appropriation, and it's NOT okay. Also, this is probably the worst type of stereotyping ever. It's not funny." Another said, "It's not just a costume. How would you feel if some white chick painted herself black and said, 'I'm dressing up as a black chick for Halloween?' Of course it's only funny if it's not happening to you." A number of media outlets also seized on the surprising imagery, with the New York Daily News referring to the look of the costumes worn by Brown and his friends as "stereotypically Arab terrorists," and other outlets, from E! Online to the Huffington Post and BET also suggesting the costumes were meant to evoke terrorism. The latter posited that Brown and his crew were, "dressed up as Osama Bin Laden and his terrorists." The Los Angeles CBS affiliate didn't go quite as far, though, suggesting that the 23-year-old singer was merely dressed as "a member of the Taliban." Brown's mother agreed with the commenters who thought the flap was much ado about nothing, tweeting on Thursday that her son should just ignore the haters. "Halloween is for fun, nothing more than just fun. Get a life please," she wrote, adding, "So does this mean when we dress our kids as Satan we glorifying him or (is) it just out of fun???? ... Keep smiling angel."