Nickelodeon's Choice: Chris Brown Will Remain Kids' Choice Nominee

Chris Brown isn't TVGuide.com voters' choice, but could he be the Kids' Choice? The answer, for now, is yes.
Although some of his sponsors have dropped him in light of his arrest and subsequent felony charges in a domestic violence case involving Rihanna, Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards are still standing by the singer. The children's network has no plans to remove Brown from the KCA ballot for the March 28 ceremony.
"Like all our KCA nominees, Chris Brown was nominated by kids several months ago based on his work as a performer, and the kids who vote will ultimately decide who wins in the category," the network said in a statement. TVGuide.com's calls to Nickelodeon were not immediately returned.
Brown is up for two awards, in the Favorite Male Singer and Favorite Song categories ("Kiss Kiss"), the latter of which also features Rihanna. A MySpace blog posted last Thursday, the day Brown was charged for assault and making criminal threats, asked fans to vote for him. The singer will be arraigned April 6.
Nickelodeon's decision to keep Brown in contention has drawn ire from thousands. Last week, a group named Twittermoms created an online petition to protest the nominations and to urge the network to excise both Brown and Rihanna from the ballot. By Tuesday afternoon, there were more than 4,000 signatures.
"I've never seen anything like it,'' said a top Viacom official Monday. ''The words I'd use to describe the situation [regarding the avalanche of e-mails and calls] are overwhelming and swamped. [The issue has] even gotten to the Sumner level." Sumner Redstone is the head of Nickelodeon parent company Viacom.
Nickelodeon isn't the only one sticking by Brown. Akon, who's faced his own legal woes, told the Associated Press he would "absolutely" collaborate with Brown. "I wouldn't take anybody's personal issues or problems," he said. "I won't hold them accountable for that when it comes to work. I think it's two separate things."
Brown has reportedly been working — not with Akon, but Rihanna. The two, who reportedly reconciled two weeks ago, have recorded a duet for Brown's new album, E! Online reports. The tune may not find many fans as almost 80 percent of TVGuide.com voters said they'll never listen to Brown's music again.
Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey's previously announced episode devoted to domestic violence will air live on Thursday and will feature Tyra Banks. Winfrey said on Friday the episode is dedicated to "all the Rihannas of the world."
Brown has not been seen in public since his Thursday court hearing, while Rihanna hasn't been spotted since a pre-Grammy event the night before the Feb. 8 incident. A police affidavit stated that a fight erupted between the two after Rihanna read a three-page long text message from "a woman who Brown had a previous sexual relationship with." The woman is Brown's 39-year-old manager, Tina Brown, TMZ reports.