CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: Bobby Brown should still...

CRUEL AND UNUSUAL: Bobby Brown should still be celebrating--after all, his album, “Don’t Be Cruel,” just spent several weeks at the top of the Billboard charts, thanks to his hugely popular single, “My Prerogative.” Instead, the singer has been explaining how he got arrested in Columbus, Ga., recently for violating a local anti-lewdness statute while performing in concert. According to a local police spokesman, Brown had pulled a woman out of the crowd, danced around her and began “hunching” her and “simulating sexual intercourse.” Brown was arrested and taken to jail, where he posted a $600 bond before being allowed to return to the concert--where he was allowed to finish the show. (Both L.L. Cool J and Kiss’ Gene Simmons have been charged in Columbus under the same statute in recent years).

Brown said he was stunned by the arrest. “I couldn’t believe it was happening to me,” he said, phoning from Rochester, N.Y., where he was on tour. “I thought that stuff went out 50 years ago. We even spoke to the police department before the show to make sure everything was straightened out in terms of what we could do and couldn’t do. All I did was invite a girl up on stage like I do every night. I didn’t harm her. I didn’t even touch her. I was dancing 5 feet away from her! It would be one thing if I was the Beastie Boys--who act really crazy. But I’m just out to entertain people. I don’t do sex stuff. I don’t even imply it. It’s not my act. I just think this happened ‘cause this place was a real redneck, Southern town. I’m not saying they’re prejudiced or anything. Just ignorant.”