Accepting an award at the American Liver Foundation’s annual fundraising gala for his work in health equity in New York on Monday night, R&B icon Al B! Sure, also known as Albert Brown, made his first public appearance since making explosive statements calling for an investigation into the death of his and Sean “Diddy” Combs’ ex-partner, Kim Porter. 

“Being a trailblazer isn’t about the fame or fortune,” Brown said with determination to the crowd gathered in midtown Manhattan as he accepted the Transplant Trailblazer Award. “It’s about walking a path uncertain filled with hope and conviction, knowing that the work that y’all do will make a difference to those who come after us. Health, to me, is the new wealth.” 

Bown has been recovering since a cross-section of illnesses put him on a ventilator for 38 days and then in a coma for several months in 2022. The “Night and Day” singer grabbed headlines in September when he published a four-part Instagram post calling for an investigation into the death of Porter, his ex-wife with whom he had three kids, and drew a connection to the ongoing Combs scandal. On Instagram, he calls Porter’s death, which was deemed to have been from natural causes by a medical examiner, a “tragic murder.”

After her relationship with Brown, Porter went on to date Combs on and off until her 2018 death from lobar pneumonia. Brown suggested in his post that Porter’s sudden death may have something to do with a tell-all book she was allegedly writing about her time with Combs, who remained incarcerated a few miles downtown and across the river from where Brown spoke on Monday, as the mogul awaits trial. In the post, Brown clarifies that the book that was recently taken off of Amazon and purportedly contained Porter’s draft of her manuscript is phony and not what he is referring to in the call for the FBI to investigate the matter.

Combs was arrested Sept. 16 and indicted the following day on federal charges of sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He has pleaded not guilty and was denied bail; Combs remains jailed at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.

“I was in a coma on a ventilator for 38 days. I was intubated, septic and had multi-system organ failure,” Brown told the crowd of his 2022 near-death experience. “And simultaneously, while undergoing such a massive life-saving liver transplant. I decided to make a decision to get up and fight, to advocate for all transplant patients around the world…So come one, come all, whether you had a transplant, you require one or just wish to be on my new jack team of transplant trailblazer warriors.” 

Brown is the founder of the Health Equity in Transplantation Coalition, which breaks down barriers in transplantation and advancing health equity for Black, Hispanic, and Latino Americans, and others in underserved communities, to restore Medicare coverage for critical non-invasive blood tests detecting early signs of organ rejection without biopsies. During his at-times emotional and consistently heartfelt bout assertive speech, he detailed this work for health equity in America, for which he partnered with Rev. Al Sharpton, and thanked the many people gathered there and who couldn’t join him.

During his speech, Brown announced that he has a forthcoming memoir titled Before Coma, After Coma: The Al. B! Sure Story.  

The 90s music legend alluded to the post on Instagram where he publicly asked the FBI for an inquiry into the death of his famous ex-partner, joking that press coverage now seems to come after every word he says. He also told the crowd that Homeland Security was present in the building on Monday but it was unclear if that was a reference to security that may have been put in place for the event or if it was light joke from the singer and producer. 

“I don’t know if I’m supposed to say it, because I don’t want it to go viral. But we even have Homeland Security, the singer said.

Inquiries sent by The Hollywood Reporter to representatives of the event and Brown yielded no immediate explanation as to the meaning behind Brown’s comments.

ALF’s mission is to promote education, advocacy, support services, and research to prevent, treat, and cure liver disease.