by Jordan Berardi

Within the past week three celebrities have broken national news and have the attention of all of America, unless, of course, you do live under a rock which I still think would be an incredibly uncomfortable living arrangement. That being said, I certainly hope none of you live under a rock, because little teeny worms belong under rocks.

Three celebrities. Two were accused (one proven guilty) in separate assault cases. One shattered, but continues to hold America’s heart.

In order of my increasing anger (first will be the one which breaks my heart least, the last will be which makes me question society), let me throw these situations out for you.

3) Beyonce’s Lip Synching Scandal
Last Wed. Beyonce sang “The Star Spangled Banner” at the Inauguration of President Obama. As beautiful as usual, the performance most likely made people’s knees buckle, their hearts palpitate, and their eyes glaze over. However, news broke that Beyonce lip synced the entire performance.

To some, this was infuriating, but to others it was understandable. Regardless, everyone knows Beyonce can sing.

Personally, there are few things Beyonce could do to curb my obsession, and this definitely is not one of them. Sure, it’s a little disappointing, but it’s still her voice, just recorded. We still got to see her in all her beauty, and might I just add, that’s a lot of beauty.

Therefore, I don’t see the huge deal. We got to see her, we got to hear her voice, we got to see her, we got to see her, we got to see her…and most importantly, we got to see her and hear her voice.

Lip synching or not — Beyonce is just a beautiful light in my life, and based on the number of tweets I see about her, I think she is also the same in other people’s lives, especially to fellow junior, Madeline Cozad.

At 11:28 am Wed. Madeline tweeted, “HERE COMES QUEEN BEYONCE SING IT GIRL #inaug2013.”
Three minutes later at 11:31 am she tweeted, “Killed it.”

And it’s true. It doesn’t matter if Beyonce put together a mashup of her singing a different word of “The Star Spangled Banner” in the 10 busiest cities in the world, a beautiful sound would still reach high into my eardrum and my world would be in complete bliss for those three minutes and probably an hour thereafter.

2.) Randy Travis’ assault case comes to a plea deal
Back in Aug. 2012 Randy Travis, the famed country music artist was issued a citation for taking part in a physical altercation outside of a church. Travis intervened on an argument between his fiance and her estranged husband, Ritchie Beougher. On Jan. 22, a plea deal was reached. This means Travis will avoid jail time as long as he keeps a clean slate for three months.

Here’s how I feel about this. Because it baffles me when I hear of brawls such as these, I am upset. But I still have mad respect for Randy Travis. Travis has released over thirty Christian songs on more than three Christian inspired albums.

Travis’ most acclaimed songs include, “Forever and Ever Amen,” “Deeper than the Holler,” and “I Told You So.”

It may just be me being an everlasting country fan, but while I see this as a major mistake, I see it as a forgivable mistake.

1.) Chris Brown’s alleged assault on singer and songwriter, Frank Ocean
On Jan. 27 Chris Brown allegedly punched Frank Ocean over a brawl concerning a parking spot in Hollywood. Brown is already on probation for assaulting his girlfriend and acclaimed musician, Rihanna, in 2009.

This story disgusts me most out of the three. As if domestic abuse wasn’t enough to upset me, Chris Brown, whose music I still enjoy, punches one of the most revolutionary modern day artists.

I can’t help but let this remind me of Miranda Lambert and her firm stance on abuse. Shown through her most famous anti-abuse songs, “Gunpowder & Lead,” “Maintain the Pain,” and “Take it Out on Me,” Miranda makes it a point to say domestic abuse is wrong.

In reference to Chris Brown’s assault of Rihanna, brought up again after the allegations about Frank Ocean, Lambert sees Brown’s situation as one without reason for mercy.

“I don’t think it’s right, I never will, and I will stand by what I said till the day that I die,” Lambert said in reference to tweets about Brown’s assaults.

I have two absolute favorite quotes from Miranda Lambert’s songs which shed a light on the touchy subject of domestic abuse.

One, from her song “Gunpowder & Lead” says, “He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll, don’t that sound like a real man? I’m going to show him what a little girls are made of, gunpowder and lead.” Read the full lyrics here.

Another is from her song “Take it Out on Me” when she says, “You never let life get you down, cause every single time, you take it out on me. You kick and scream your dyin’ love for me. Well, you don’t win love in a fight.” Read the full lyrics here.

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Celebrities are the ones in the spotlight, obviously, that’s what makes them have celebrity status. It’s a shame the things which get the most media attention are the things which involve court cases, police interrogations, and battered people.

The Teletubbies had is super easy. All they had to do was worry about what time their tummies would turn on and play a super creepy little video.