Washington, Feb 13 : After Chris Brown's sister, his cousin Phylicia Thompson has also spoken in his defense, insisting that he might have been "provoked".

Chris Brown might be getting the flak for allegedly attacking Rihanna and making criminal threats, but his cousin insists that he is not a violent person.

Thomson says that Brown's upbringing has made him a civilized human being.

"Chris was not brought up... to beat on a woman. It had to be something to provoke him for Chris to do it (sic). He wouldn't have done it just to be having fun," Contactmusic quoted Thompson as telling Extra.

"Yes, he's done something wrong, because he put his hands on her (Rihanna), but you don't know what happened. He had to be provoked to do it. Everybody loved Chris... This comes as a surprise to me," Thompson added.

Meanwhile, Academy award nominated actor Terrence Howard has also joined the gang of Chris Brown supporters, as he has retracted his initial comments on him, stating that his initial comments were "insensitive", as he was not aware of the accusations against Brown.

"Chris is a great guy. He''ll be all right. And Rihanna knows he loves her. She''ll be all right. Just everybody''s got to get out of their way," Terrence said.

"When they asked me about Chris Brown, I was in no way aware of what he had been accused of. Had I known, I would have never had said something so insensitive," Terrence added.

Chris Brown has been accused of allegedly attacking Rihanna, who was left with horrific injuries including a split lip, a bloody nose and bite marks on her hands after the attack. (ANI)