In The News: Prof. Wanzo Featured in CNN Report, "How is Chris Brown still this popular?"

Rebecca Wanzo, Professor of Women, Gender, & Sexuality Studies at Washington University, has been quoted in CNN's recent coverage of the controversial R&B singer Chris Brown.

Full text available at https://www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/entertainment/chris-brown-jasmine-crockett-cec

Excerpt:

"False accusations have also been used as tools of racism, said Rebecca Wanzo, professor of women, gender and sexuality studies at Washington University — most notably the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till.

Brown publicly aligns himself with this context, and his largely female fanbase “goes a long way in making him OK,” Wanzo said.

“When someone gives a fan pleasure, they have a hard time believing bad things,” Wanzo said. “They have a hard time letting go of their love objects.”

Such forgiveness or denial is not exclusive to Brown, Wanzo said. Roman Polanski, the award-winning Polish-French filmmaker who was arrested for drugging and raping a 13-year-old girl in 1977 and then fled the United States, has been defended by A-list filmmakers, actors and other members of the global film industry."

In The News: Prof. Wanzo Featured in CNN Report, "How is Chris Brown still this popular?"

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