Kelly Rowland made a statement in support of Chris Brown at the AMAs.

Tonight (Nov. 20) the AMAs took place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Chris Brown, who made headlines earlier this weekend by announcing that his AMAs tribute to Michael Jackson had been canceled without explanation, won Favorite Male R&B Artist.

The category was presented by Destiny’s Child singer and actress Kelly Rowland. Immediately after she announced that Breezy had one, the crowd voiced their disapproval with a wave of boos and upset reactions. Rowland was visibly taken back by the response, as was seen before the camera cut to a distanced shot of the crowd.

“Chris Brown is not here tonight, so I’m accepting this award on his behalf,” she said, as she began her statement. “Excuse me, chill out,” Rowland told the crowd. “But I wanna tell Chris thank you so much for making great R&B music. And I wanna tell him thank you for being an incredible performer. I’ll take this award, bring it to you. I love you, congratulations. And congratulations to all the nominees in this category.”

The crowd’s sentiment changed as they cheered once she concluded her speech.

As previously mentioned, Chris Brown claimed his Michael Jackson tribute performance was canceled without explanation yesterday (Nov. 19). “WOULDVE been the ama performance but they cancelled me for reasons unknown [man shoulder shrug emoji],” he wrote in a comment after posting rehearsal footage of his tribute.

In the R&B category that Brown won, he was nominated alongside Brent Faiyaz, Giveon, Lucky Daye and The Weeknd.

Watch AMAs Crowd Boo Chris Brown for Winning R&B Award and Kelly Rowland Checking Them

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