Fresh off of a seemingly one-sided feud with Kanye West and Kim Kardashian, Drake seems to be making some new friends. And at least one of them seems … like a less-than-ideal decision on Drake’s part.
Among the nine Instagram posts he made about his New Year’s Eve party, Aubrey Graham put up two photos with Chris Brown. In each photo, they both look like they are having a great time, toasting to a new year.
Drake and Chris Brown have a few things in common beyond being fathers who make music — they both dated Rihanna. Drake still thinks about her apparently. He reportedly recently shouted out Rihanna while he was in Jamaica, saying that he “still has love for her.” But given Chris Brown’s history, that seems improbable.
In 2009, Chris Brown reportedly beat Rihanna so badly that her face was nearly unrecognizable. Just this summer, he was arrested in Florida on charges of felony battery. He’s also been accused of other reprehensible behavior, some of which caused Karrueche Tran to take out a restraining order in 2017. He has also repeatedly made insensitive comments on social media, including that people fake suicide attempts for attention.
In May, Rihanna told Vogue that she and Drake no longer had a relationship, saying: “We don’t have a friendship now, but we’re not enemies either. It is what it is.”
At 32 years old, Drake still seems to handle any and all perceived slights with extreme acts of retaliation. But the photos with Chris Brown aren’t just a diss track. They’re an endorsement of Chris Brown. Drake, a man who once shared that he collects Birkin bags for his future wife and works hard to cultivate his public image as emotionally sensitive — was laughing arm-in-arm with a man who was a nightmare for a woman they both dated and whom he claims to love.
