posted under sexy-news by Nicole-Admin

It has been more than a week since the fallout between pop singer Chris Brown and girlfriend Rihanna. The young artist recently expressed his apologies in a public statement. The following statement was issued Sunday by a spokesman on behalf of Chris Brown:

“Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired. I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God’s help, to emerging a better person. Much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong. While I would like to be able to talk about this more, until the legal issues are resolved, this is all I can say except that I have not written any messages or made any posts to Facebook, on blogs or any place else. Those posts or writings under my name are frauds.”

A spokesperson for Rihanna declined to comment.

Branding experts are saying that both performers have millions of dollars at stake, beyond the courtroom and hospital, in terms of possible damage to product endorsement predicated on reputations that no longer exist. Rihanna hasn’t even been accused of doing anything wrong. However, some companies may shun her as well just for being associated with all this mess.

“I would not want to say that it is a death sentence, but it is certainly going to be very difficult for him to secure future endorsements,” said Ann Green, a senior vice president at Millward Brown, a New York-based marketing research company. Green says that the reason why she has been used as a celebrity endorser is that she represents something very positive and in particular a strong female role model. Being associated with a situation like this can definitely have an impact.

Within the last three weeks or so, we’ve seen controversial events arise among some very popluar young celebrities including Michael Phelps and Chris Brown who have remained newsworthy almost all month. Chief brand strategist Eli Portnoy of the Portnoy Group says Brown’s arrest coupled with the recent controversy over photos of Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps smoking from a marijuana pipe may have a chilling effect on celebrity endorsements. Yeah, ya think?! Both of them have suffered some when it comes to endorsements and may continue to feel the strain on their image in weeks ahead, but like a lot of things like this, it will pass and they’ll still be loved and continue making lots of dividends. At least Chris Brown can come out with another hot hit.

**Statement from People.com, LA Times