So, Chris Brown appeared on Larry King Live, the go-to show for those looking to rehabilitate their image following scandal. Sadly for Brown, the visit came off as nothing more than a bid at fulfilling the requisite media appearance.

While, yes, Brown did discuss his family's familiarity with domestic violence — his step-father hit his mother, Joyce — but he brought nothing else new to the table. Rather, the pop star skirted most of King's questions, particularly the specifics of his and former girlfriend Rihanna's relationship.

When asked about alleged past blow-outs, Brown simply furrowed his brow, feigned ignorance and let his lawyer try to pin the blame on a probation officer, who was obviously mistaken and made a mistake in citing past incidents in the official report.

Fine, okay. That's what lawyers do: they make their clients look better than they are. But Chris really didn't help, for he came off as, quite simply, a man who was doing what he thought needed to be done: appearing on national television in a bid to clear the air, but, in the end, not really clearing the air.

The most Brown did to address his violent streak was to blame his youth: no one taught him and Rihanna how to love one another; relationships get heated; there's no class on controlling anger. Really? One would think that after watching his mother, who, for the record, we like, get beat up on, Brown would have more respect for women.

Even the singer's dimwitted attempts at chivalry, like not discussing the specifics of the infamous night (out of "respect") came off as nothing more than an endeavor at saving face. When presented with the photo of a black, blue and bloodied Rihanna, Brown could simply mutter that he couldn't believe the showdown went down and expressed his luke-warm disappointment in himself.

While surely he and his publicity team thought tonight's appearance would help rehabilitate his image, Brown's overall emotionless will likely only strengthen the image of him as a villain. Too bad, because we used to really like him. Now he just looks like a jerk.

He would have been better off flying under the radar and then coming back with something so spectacular that the world forgot all about his violent temper and focused on his talent, which has now been tarnished forever by both his girlfriend-beating and terrible CNN appearance.