Richmond councilman disputes TMZ's report on Chris Brown's sentence

By: Will Jones | Times-Dispatch
Published: September 12, 2009

Conner Brown

Richmond City Councilman Douglas G. Conner Jr. isn't happy with the glare of the Hollywood spotlight after a celebrity gossip Web site quoted him in a report on disgraced singer Chris Brown.

The usually low-key councilman fired off a statement yesterday, saying he was misquoted by TMZ.com in a story posted Thursday about Brown's community labor work in Richmond. The pending work is part of Brown's sentence following his conviction for beating his then-girlfriend, the singer Rihanna.

TMZ reported that Conner had given the Web site the scoop on the type of work that Brown, a native of Tappahannock, would do.

The site said: "Richmond City Councilman Doug Conner -- who works with the city's hard labor program -- tells us Brown will begin his 8-hour work day at 8:00 AM when a Department of Corrections bus picks him up, along with 30-40 other offenders. Conner says Brown will wear a reflective orange vest and pick up trash and litter along highways and roads. He'll also have to trim brush along medians, remove gang graffiti from the VCU campus, and wash the inside and outside of law enforcement vehicles."

In an interview yesterday, Conner expressed dismay over the TMZ report and said he'd received calls from other celebrity news outlets. Eonline.com followed the TMZ story and quoted an anonymous City Council staff member who disputed the statements that had been attributed to Conner.

Conner said he didn't want to make a big deal out of the articles, but he later released an e-mail statement that listed TMZ's inaccuracies.

"The statements and information ascribed to me . . . regarding singer Chris Brown are inaccurate and untrue," Conner said. "I have no personal knowledge of, or information regarding, the singer Chris Brown."

In bullet-point fashion, Conner said he had no knowledge of Brown's legal arrangements, what type of work he might do and what he might wear. He said TMZ had mischaracterized his attempts to explain his monthly district cleanups administered by the sheriff's office.

He added that "Richmond, Virginia, does not have a "hard labor program" and "Virginia Commonwealth University does not have gang graffiti."

It was unclear yesterday why TMZ had contacted Conner, who represents South Richmond's 9th District and serves as chairman of the council's land-use committee.

Conner's statement directed questions to the Richmond Police Department public-affairs office but added that "there is no information being released regarding Chris Brown's possible community service in Richmond."

Police Chief Bryan T. Norwood has said Brown would perform manual labor such as graffiti removal and picking up trash as part of a sentence imposed by a California judge.

Contact Will Jones at (804) 649-6911 or wjones@timesdispatch.com.