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| “ | You never used what you got to get over on a woman? | „ |
| ~ Bryant taunting Nick Amaro. |
Caleb Bryant is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Funny Valentine". He is a famous rapper and the abusive boyfriend of singer Micha Green.
He was portrayed by Eugene Jones III.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Bryant's father was a pimp, and regularly beat, raped, and abused women in front of his son, teaching him to view women as objects to be used and beaten into submission. As an adult, he parlayed his family's criminal roots and his macho swagger into a career as a rap artist.
He also began a relationship with singer Micha Green, with whom he also records several hit records. Unbeknownst to their fans, however, their relationship is rocky and violent, with Bryant beating Green whenever he suspects, incorrectly, that she is cheating on him. He did not feel the need to be faithful to her, however - he frequently cheated on her with groupies, and even her friends.
A few of their mutual friends and collaborators, such as Micha's producer and mentor Brass, knew about Bryant's abuse, but were powerless to do anything about it because Bryant made so much money for his label that its executives kept his behavior out of the press.
"Funny Valentine"[]
During a recording session for their latest duet single, Green walks in on Bryant flirting with her friend Joi and calls him out on it, laughing at him in front of his entourage. Enraged, Bryant knocks her to the floor and shoves her head in his crotch; when she tries to fight back, he hits her in the face and chokes her. Bryant and Green's respective hangers-on do nothing to stop him, but they do eventually take her to a private hospital to tend to her injuries. The doctors suspect abuse and call the NYPD's Special Victims Unit.
When Detective Olivia Benson asks Green who hurt her, Green reluctantly replies that Bryant did, but that "he didn't mean to". Her partner, Detective Nick Amaro, talks with Brass, who says that, while he did not see the incident, he knows that Bryant has been abusing Green for years. The studio engineer and a few members of Micha's entourage confirm the abuse.
Amaro and Detective Fin Tutuola find Bryant at a night club with Joi and ask to see his hands; when they see cuts and bruises indicative of having punched someone, they arrest him for domestic violence and sexual assault. Bryant's lawyer Ben Cohn, whom Bryant refers to as "my Jew", subtly threatens Sergeant John Munch by saying that cases like this usually end up embarrassing the police, and gets Bryant freed on bail after he is charged. Bryant proclaims his innocence to the media and says that Micha will not let the police "frame another innocent Black man".
Everyone who had been present at the studio either claims they did not see Bryant abuse Green or dismiss it as happening for only "a hot second". Micha also refuses to press charges against Bryant, both out of misplaced loyalty and a fear that a trial would damage her image and brand.
With little evidence to use against Bryant, Assistant District Attorney Rafael Barba offers him a deal in which he pleads guilty to felony assault, pays a fine, and performs community service in return for a suspended sentence; Barba adds that the deal would give Bryant a chance to play up his "redemption" for the press. Bryant accepts the deal and immediately goes on TV begging Green to forgive him for the abuse, which he claims was "not the real me".
That night, Micha invites him to her hotel room, in violation of the judge's order to stay 1000 feet away from her. He cannot resist showing off, so he posts a picture of them together on Twitter. Benson and Amaro arrest him for violating the judge's order, even though Green protests that she invited him. Cohn tells the judge that Bryant did not know he was violating the restraining order by accepting Green's invitation, and the judge lets him go with a 30-day sentence, once again suspended.
Outside the courtroom, Bryant mockingly shows the SVU detectives his new tattoo of Micha's bruised face. Amaro, who despises Bryant because he reminds him of his own abusive father, impulsively stops and frisks him, and arrests him after finding a small amount of marijuana in his possession. Amaro puts Bryant in a holding cell, where he taunts the detective by saying that his protective, "nice guy" image is just a front, no different than his own "thug" image; he then says that Amaro must have used his charms to "get over on a woman" at some point. Amaro locks Bryant in the cell, but Cohn once again gets him released on bail.
Later that night, Green appears at a nightclub for the release party for her and Bryant's new single and declares for the assembled paparazzi that they are back together, although the judge had refused to allow him to attend the gala. Bryant nevertheless sneaks into the club, however, and runs into Brass, who is talking on his cell phone to Tutuola about Bryant abusing Micha. Bryant calls Brass a snitch and shoots him in the chest, killing him. A shootout ensues between Bryant's crew and club security in which Micha and several others are wounded. Bryant manages to flee the scene before the police arrive.
Tutuola and Detective Amanda Rollins bring Bryant in for questioning, and he claims that he was home alone at the time of the shooting. Benson and Barba manage to get the real story from Green after she talks to Brass' widow and young son; she tells them that Bryant killed Brass in cold blood. They then persuade her to testify against Bryant in front of a grand jury. When Barba questions her in court, however, she insists that Bryant is innocent, and that she only said that he killed Brass because Barba had pressured her, thus ruining the case against Bryant.
Amaro finds out that Bryant had called Green the night before from jail, and Barba concludes that he must have convinced her not to testify against him by saying he was sorry and that he loved her. Rollins then reads a tweet from Green saying that she is going to Bermuda with Bryant.
While on a yacht in Bermuda, Bryant gets a text message, and Green innocently asks him who it is from. He immediately flies into a rage, accusing her of prying into his business, and beats her to death. Bryant is brought in for questioning soon afterward and arrested for and convicted of Green's murder, his luck having finally run out.
Trivia[]
- Bryant is loosely based on singer Chris Brown, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to assaulting his then-girlfriend, Rihanna.
External links[]
- Caleb Bryant on the Law & Order Wiki
