Addiction, Rage Fits & Obsession: How Chris Brown Is 'Dancing With Death'
March 2 2017, Published 5:14 p.m. ET
It's no secret that Chris Brown has led a troubled life over the last several years, but a new investigation from Billboard reveals just how dire the singer's situation has become.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, the 27-year-old's ex-girlfriend Karrueche Tran filed a restraining order against the notorious singer last month, claiming he threatened to kill her and became physically violent on several occasions.
But according to Billboard insiders, Brown's seemingly bottomless supply of erratic behavior has been a long time coming — thanks to heavy drug use and an untreated case of bipolar II disorder.
During a February 2016 Vanity Fair Italia shoot, a member of Brown’s team claimed he saw the "Loyal" singer snorting cocaine, his new drug of choice, which made his behavior increasingly unpredictable and unmanageable.
"We would ask, 'What’s the temperature today?'" a security guard told the publication. "You didn’t know how he was going to wake up. Were you going to get cool Chris? Or depressed or artsy and focused Chris, who would be very productive? Or the happy-go-lucky Chris, who would just joke around and have fun? It was a different person every day."
Another member of Brown's inner circle said of his drug use: "He will cuss you out and say, 'Hey, man, I’m functioning. I’m going to get the work out.' And he does, but he’s not the first functional star who thinks they can handle those powerful drugs. I got to say with all my heart, he’s dancing with death.”
"Sober Chris is a solid guy with a big heart. High Chris and Chris coming off drugs is ungrateful, unappreciative and a foul person who most people don’t want to deal with,” a former associate revealed. “Good Chris? You’ll fight for him. Unfortunately, the last couple of years, it has been drug Chris. That Chris is not a good dude," the source added.
As RadarOnline.com readers know, the hip-hop singer is no stranger to this kind of trouble. He infamously pleaded guilty to assaulting former girlfriend Rihanna in 2009, and just last year, model Liziane Gutierrez claimed he punched her in the face at a Las Vegas party. (The father-of-one was never charged with a crime in the latter case.)
According to members his team, most of whom have quit over the last few years, Brown's keen interest in ex Tran has grown into an obsession over the last several months.
"He’s always on social media, looking up who Karrueche was with, what she was looking like, what club she was at, who posted to her Instagram," an insider claimed.
In Tran's restraining order court filing, the model alleged that Brown "punched me in my stomach twice" and "pushed me down the stairs" during their tumultuous relationship, violating his probation in the Rihanna assault case. Now, the restraining order requires Brown to stay 100 yards away from Tran, her mother and brother.
Is it too late for Chris to turn his life around? Sadly, many of his friends believe so.
"You can talk to any drug addict or chemically imbalanced person — it doesn’t just go away," said a former friend. "It’s something you have to work on. You have to change your lifestyle. And he’s not doing the things he needs to do to get well, so he’s never going to be well. The kid is going to hit rock bottom."
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