MANILA: In a profanity-laced video, Grammy award-winning singer Chris Brown vented his frustration on Thursday at being stuck in the Philippines for a second day after running afoul of a politically powerful religious group that filed a fraud complaint against him for a cancelled concert.

Brown was still in the country on Thursday evening and had not applied for the emigration clearance he needs to leave Manila, Immigration Bureau spokeswoman Elaine Tan said in a text message.

The 26-year-old R&B singer was prevented from leaving on a private plane on Wednesday, a day after a packed concert in Manila. In videos posted on Instagram, Brown clowns around, asking, “Can somebody please tell me what the (expletive) is going on?”

“I don’t know, I’m reading headlines after headlines, what the (expletive)!” he added, smiling as his companions laugh in the background while sprawled on sofas. In another video, Brown says when he gets to customs, he will say he did nothing wrong.

He then breaks into dance as people laugh. The expletive-laden video appeared to have been removed from Brown’s Instagram account on Thursday.The dispute traces back to last New Year’s Eve when Brown cancelled a concert at the 55,000-seat Philippine Arena north of Manila, which is operated by a corporation owned by the politically influential Iglesia ni Cristo religious group.

The 101-year-old group is believed to have more than a million members both in the Philippines and abroad and is known to vote as a block in a nation where politicians often seek endorsements from church leaders.

The organisers said they were told at that time by Brown’s representative that the singer lost his passport and could not make it to the concert. In a complaint, the Maligaya Development Corp. says Brown and his Canadian promoter, John Michael Pio Roda, backed out of the concert after they were paid in full for a $1 million contract.

MDC promoted the concert and sold tickets based on the guarantee that Brown would perform, the complaint alleged.

The religious group asked the Department of Justice for help in prosecuting Brown, although no charges have been filed.

Brown was being delayed while immigration officials consulted with the Justice Department about the case, Tan said.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2015

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