ABIDJAN — Chris Brown and Rihanna jetted into the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan on Sunday.
In town for the Kora Awards, a music awards show, often dubbed the “African Grammys,” Brown is the headliner and guest of honor this year.
The event was set to take place on Saturday, but had to be postponed until Sunday after it was reported that Brown had missed his flight to Abidjan.
On Saturday, the event’s communication director, Konnie Toure, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that, “[Brown] will not arrive until Sunday at 5:00 am (0500 GMT).”
Now the official story has changed.
A different organiser, Ernest Adjovi, told the press that the reason for the delay was a combination of heavy rain and “logistical hiccups,” AFP reports.
Whatever the reason, it seems that Brown — who was pictured courtside with Rihanna at a Los Angeles Lakers vs. New York Knicks game at the Staples Center in LA on Christmas Day — couldn’t bear to leave the “Diamonds” singer’s side.
According to entertainment.ie , Rihanna wore shades and stayed close to Brown when they arrived in Abidjan by private jet .
This year’s Kora’s will take place at a luxury hotel in the city center, and prices for attendees range from 50,000 francs (75 euros, $100) to one million francs (1,500 euros, $2000).
Far beyond the price range of most Abidjanians, past Kora Awards have drawn appearances by Nelson Mandela and the late “King of Pop” Michael Jackson.
Brown is scheduled to perform on Sunday afternoon at the “Peace for Africa” concert along with Nigerian duo P-Square.
Apart from the obvious question of whether the Bajan “Good girl gone bad” will join Brown on stage, one person who won’t be cheering in the wings is Brown’s on-off girlfriend Karrueche Tran.
The model tweeted the ominous message “your lies are going to catch up to you” on Saturday, for reasons that are not immediately clear.