Experts tell Chris Brown to sing 'sorry' song for Rihanna to save career

BY Corky Siemaszko
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Chamberlin/Pool

Chris Brown a Los Angeles courtroom.

It's not over - if he keeps singing.

With R&B singer Chris Brown's career on the brink and his good name shredded by charges he thrashed his glamorous girlfriend Rihanna, one of Manhattan's top reputation rehabilitators recommended that Brown do what he does best.

"Come up with a soulful song about what happened," said Davia Temin, CEO of Temin and Co. "I would use my fame to say, 'Look we are all human and make terrible mistakes.'"

The idea, said Temin, "is to embrace the thing that hurt you the most and turn it into something positive."

If Brown "were a company," said Temin, "I would say, 'Start a foundation on nonviolent resolution to family squabbles.'"

But Brown, who is just 19, sings for a living, and he needs to understand that "coming back is possible," she said.

"You can come back from pretty much anything," said Temin. "Our country loves people who come back from the brink."

That said, Brown has to do "some serious repair work," especially since prosecutors released a damning document based on what Rihanna told them about the beating she suffered on a drive home from a party on Feb.8.

"The first thing he has to do is apologize again, sincerely," Temin said. "He needs to say, 'Look, I am so sorry any of this happened, that's not who I want to be. I take my role as a role model very seriously.'"

Then, said Temin, "You start to put in fixes."

While Brown has yet to plead to the criminal charges, in the court of public opinion, he's already guilty, she said.

"The reputation is already tarnished, and perception becomes reality," said Temin.

The success of Brown's public rehabilitation also depends a lot on what Rihanna, 21, does, said Marilyn Puder-York, a psychologist who works with another group with shaky reps - Wall Street workers.

"The fact that she is standing by his side is significant," she said. "That she went back to him takes him off the hook a little."

Puder-York quickly added, "It does not excuse what happened."

"But for the public, it raises the question, 'Who am I to condemn him if the person he is accused of victimizing is not condemning him?'" she said.

Still, even having Rihanna onboard is not enough to erase what happened from public memory.

So Puder-York recommends that Brown stick to singing - and leave the public hell-raising to other celebrities.

"People are very forgiving, but he needs to exhibit almost perfect behavior going forward," she said. "For the next few years, he has to be off the radar, behaviorally."

Last month, Brown hired a public relations firm and issued a public apology after word of his fight with Rihanna got out. He also said he was committed to becoming "a better person."

Brown has not made any public statement since his court appearance on assault charges Thursday. His handlers have denied a Chicago Sun-Times report that they have launched a career-saving campaign dubbed "Project Mea Culpa."

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