Rihanna, Kim Kardashian lead call to #FreeCyntoiaBrown
THE NATIONAL conversation about sexual assault and harassment has cast a new spotlight on an old case.
Cyntoia Brown – who said she had been forced into prostitution by a violent boyfriend – is serving a life sentence for the 2004 murder of a 43-year-old stranger who picked her up and took her to his home. She was 16 at the time, and she won’t be eligible for parole until she is in her late 60s.
Brown is now 28, and this week celebrities have taken up the Tennessee case under the hashtag #FreeCyntoiaBrown. A social media posting went viral after Rihanna put it on Instagram on Tuesday.
Kim Kardashian also tweeted about the case on Tuesday, writing “I’ve called my attorneys yesterday to see what can be done to fix this.”
“The system has failed,” Kardashian wrote. “It’s heart breaking to see a young girl sex trafficked then when she has the courage to fight back is jailed for life! We have to do better & do what’s right.”
“The justice system is so backwards!!!” Cara Delevingne posted on Instagram. “This is completely insane.”
Snoop Dogg posted a side-byside comparison of the acts and sentences of Brown and Brock Turner, who had been sentenced to six months for sexual assault. (He was released after three).
The calls to free Brown come as stories of sexual assault by powerful men have dominated the news cycle, and after a slew of celebrities also took up rapper Meek Mill’s case, who was sentenced to two to four years for a parole violation.
An online petition calling for Brown’s release has garnered more than 200,000 signatures.
Last week, the Nashville Fox affiliate ran a story about Brown, and showed portions of a 2011 documentary, “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia’s Story,” in which filmmaker Dan Birman explored Brown’s familial legacy of abuse, and her own history of being sex trafficked. — WP-Bloomberg