The 19-year-old singer, who's accused in a domestic dispute that reportedly involves pop superstar Rihanna, is in the running for outstanding male artist at the 40th annual awards, being presented Thursday night at the Shrine Auditorium and airing on Fox.
Rihanna, his longtime girlfriend, is up for outstanding female artist.
The show had no plans to address the situation, and wouldn't know whether Brown or Rihanna won until the envelope was opened during the live telecast, said a person close to the Image Awards who was not authorized to speak publicly and asked not to be named.
It's wasn't known whether either artist would attend. Each separately canceled their appearances and performances at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.
Brown was arrested Sunday and booked on suspicion of making criminal threats, a felony. A police statement earlier in the day said an unidentified woman reported that Brown had injured her during a dispute the night before. Subsequent reports, citing unnamed law enforcement sources, said the woman was Rihanna.
Repeated messages to representatives for Brown and Rihanna have not been returned.
It's not the first time a nominee has faced trouble going into the Image Awards. Tupac Shakur was an outstanding actor nominee in 1994 for his role in "Poetic Justice" after the rapper faced sexual abuse charges. R. Kelly's "Chocolate Factory" was nominated for outstanding album in 2004 while the crooner was battling child pornography charges. Neither won.
Brown won the outstanding male artist trophy at last year's Image Awards.
Other nominees for outstanding male artist are Common, Jamie Foxx, John Legend and will.i.am. Alicia Keys, Beyonce, Jennifer Hudson and Mariah Carey are also nominated for outstanding female artist.
Over 30 awards honoring television, film, music and literature are to be handed out in categories such as outstanding reality series, literary work, jazz artist, music video and documentary.
Television shows including "The Game," ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne," ''Ugly Betty," ''Everybody Hates Chris" and "Grey's Anatomy" are nominated for multiple awards. "Cadillac Records," ''Miracle at St. Anna," ''The Secret Life of Bees," ''Seven Pounds" and "The Family That Preys" are nominated for outstanding motion picture.
The 40th annual Image Awards coincide with the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and will kick off a yearlong centennial celebration.
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Music writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody contributed to this story.
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Fox is a unit of News Corp.
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i love you chris