Brown Plea Deal in Works; Arraignment Today

Singer tweets, then deletes, response to controversy

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown—who really needs to learn to step away from the Twitter—lashed out at his critics in a rant on the social networking site that was predictably and quickly deleted. Brown, apparently upset with all the controversy over his Grammys appearance , tweeted a series of messages yesterday that culminated in this classiness: "HATE ALL U WANT BECUZ I GOT A GRAMMY Now! That's the ultimate FUCK OFF!" More»

Grammy Awards also go to Chris Brown, Bon Iver, and more

(NEWSER) - The Grammys got started with—what else?—a performance. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band did a rousing rendition of "We Take Care of Our Own" before host LL Cool J even made an appearance. The host brought up Whitney Houston's death first thing after thanking the band (click for more on that ). Then:

• Nope, it's still not time for an award: Bruno Mars takes the stage, then the first presenters appear—20 minutes into the ceremony. But Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt first perform a tribute to Etta James before presenting Best Pop Solo Performance to Adele for "Someone Like You."
• Next up: Another performance, this time the controversial first Grammys performance by Chris Brown since he beat Rihanna before the ceremony three years ago.

Sasha Pasulka asks: Is this really the message we want to send to women?

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown is performing tonight at the Grammys, three years after beating Rihanna the night before the very same awards show, and Sasha Pasulka thinks it's disgraceful. The story is being covered as if it's "an exiled prince’s return to a former glory," when in fact it's actually "an enormous 'f**k you' to every woman who has been, is, or will be on the receiving end of domestic violence," she writes on Hello Giggles . Worse, even during the immediate aftermath of Rihanna's beating, Hollywood failed to roundly condemn Brown. Instead, it "teetered on the brink of defending" him. The public response "was a full-blown tearing-down of female self-worth, an assault on any progress women have made in this country in the past 200 years." More»

Michael West, 41, has been ordered to stay sober

(NEWSER) - A Wisconsin husband busted for beating his wife in a domestic dispute over finances offered a unique defense: "A ghost did it." Fond du Lac cops arrived at Michael West's home to find his wife, Rebecca, "crying very hard and bleeding from her nose," according to a police report discovered by the Smoking Gun . She said her husband struck her, and tried to strangle her. West told officers his wife had fallen repeatedly to the floor and was strangled by a "ghost." He's been charged with attempted strangulation, battery, disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest—and has been ordered to stay sober, notes the Daily Mail . More»

Messages of love on Twitter can't be a coincidence: E!

(NEWSER) - Rihanna and Chris Brown appear to have sent each other "secret love tweets"—and by "secret," we mean completely public messages posted on a social networking site. The "secret" part? Neither Rihanna nor Brown mentioned the other by name. Brown tweeted yesterday, "Love U more than u know!" and just two minutes later, Rihanna appeared to respond , tweeting, "I'll always love u #1LOVE." More»