Woman defends Chris Brown holding her by throat during lap dance on stage

Former Love Islander Natalia Zoppa has spoken out against the backlash Chris Brown is facing online for grabbing her by the throat on stage.

At his Manchester gig as part of his sold-out European Tour, Chris Brown performed one of his notorious lap dances, but also put his hands around 2020 Love Island contestant Natalia Zoppa's neck as she sat on stage singing along to his song.

Social media erupted after a clip of the moment was posted to TikTok, with viewers outraged by Brown's behaviour - particularly given his abusive history, the singer having pleaded guilty to physically assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna when he was 19 years old.

In 2009, images surfaced of Rihanna with visible injuries to her face and the 'Umbrella' singer had to be hospitalised after Brown physically assaulted her after a pre-Grammy's event on 8 February.

As a result of pleading guilty, Brown received five years' probation, 1,400 hours of community service and domestic violence counselling.

Social media users were quick to call out Brown's touching of Zoppa's neck, with many branding it 'disturbing'.

Another former Love Islander, Malin Andersson, took to Twitter to write: "Don’t like Chris Brown. I ain’t forgetting what he did to Rihanna. Man’s still got it in him, putting his hands on girls throat on stage. Ugh. Sickening."

"I'm not Rihanna fan. In fact, I can't stand the sound of her 'singing', however, I will never forget the sight of her face after Brown beat her up. How he was not cancelled in a world where people can't even express an opinion anymore, is beyond me. Brown is repulsive," another added.

A third commented: "And we wonder why youngsters of today are increasingly finding this behaviour acceptable."

TikTok/ @rikiekelly

However, Zoppa has since defended the singer, arguing she was 'more than happy to participate' and had 'seen previous dances' Brown had done on stage so she 'knew what the routine was'.

She continued to Mail Online: "He barely even grabbed me.

"Why are people assuming the worst? It's actually annoying. I loved every minute of it."

Twitter/ @NataliaZoppa

A whole string of allegations having followed Brown ever since the images surfaced of Rihanna, with his ex Karrueche Tran winning a five-year restraining order against him after sharing threatening text and voicemail messages from the singer.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247