Bobby Brown bails on interview with station that freed him

WASHINGTON -- Almost as soon as he was sprung from jail by a radio station's money, Bobby Brown and Hot 99.5 FM bailed on the deal.

The R&B singer had spent three nights in a Massachusetts jail for failing to pay child support when the station on Thursday paid the $19,150 he owed on the condition that Brown appear on "The Kane Show" for a week. He was supposed to discuss the case and how he could turn his life around during studio appearances beginning Monday.

But Brown backed out of an on-air phone interview with the morning show Friday, insisting he had not agreed to be an employee of the station.

"That wasn't our deal," said Brown, who hung up after Kane pressed him.

"We thought we clearly communicated to Bobby our intentions, but once we had him on the air this morning it was clear that we were not on the same page," said Kane, who goes by one name.

The station and Brown's attorney mutually decided the deal was not in Brown's best interest and that Brown would return the money.

"We feel that there are better things we can do with the money locally," Kane said.

Brown was arrested while he was watching his daughter's cheerleading competition at Attleboro High School this week.

Phaedra Parks, Brown's attorney in Atlanta, had earlier said the singer has been struggling to meet monthly payments to Kim Ward, of Stoughton, Mass., the mother of his two teenage children. Brown and pop diva Whitney Houston are divorcing after 14 years.

It was the latest in a series of child support troubles for Brown, a Boston native best known for the solo hit "Don't Be Cruel." In 2004, he was sentenced to 90 days in prison for missing three months of payments, but the sentence was suspended after he paid about $15,000. He also paid $11,000 in delinquent child support in October after being threatened with arrest.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)