R&B singer Rihanna talked for the first time about her tumultuous relationship with recording artist Chris Brown in an interview with Diane Sawyer on 'Good Morning America.'
Last February, Brown beat Rihanna during a heated argument while they sat in his car. Brown later received 180 days community labor, five years of probation and one year of domestic violence counseling for the beating.
A brave-faced Rihanna confessed to being ashamed of what happened between her and Brown. "There are a lot of women who experienced what I did, but not in the public. So, it made it really difficult," she told Sawyer. "I just felt, 'Oh my god, here goes my little bit of privacy.' It's something that nobody wants anybody to know."
The 19-year-old singer later resumed her relationship with Brown despite receiving repeated punches and bites during the attack. "It's completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself the minute the physical wounds go away," she said. "You want this thing to go away. This is a memory you don't want to have ever again."
Ultimately, according to Rihanna, public reaction by women in similarly abusive situations helped her end the relationship with Brown. "When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for telling them 'Go back, '" she said, adding, "Don't react off of love. F love."
Rihanna also offered a bit of cautionary advice regarding domestic abuse: "This happened to me, and it could happen to anybody," she said during the interview. A second part of Rihanna's interview with Sawyer will air tomorrow on 'Good Morning America,' with the full interview airing tomorrow night at 10pm on '20/20.'
But although Rihanna has the spotlight today, Brown has spoken out as well on the events from earlier this year by making rounds on 'Larry King Live,' 'MTV,' Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. How do their statements on the relationship (and its aftermath) match up? See below as we compare Rihanna and Brown's opinions on the status of their love, regret for misdeeds and bad decisions, on the public's perception of them, and the future.
ON LOVE
Rihanna: She told Sawyer she is "embarrassed" that Brown is "the type of person" she fell in love with.
Brown: Said to Larry King "that's not who I am as a person, and that's not who I promise I want to be." Claims to still love Rihanna and has posted a YouTube link on Twitter pointing to a video of the couple during happier times.
ON REGRET
Rihanna: Revealed during the 'Good Morning America' interview that returning to Brown sent the wrong message to women in abusive relationships and wants to speak out now to correct this.
Brown: Spoke to MTV and said he felt bad for the altercation with Rihanna. Brown: "My thoughts [when I look back on it now] is like, 'Why did it happen?' Like, 'What was I thinking? What is wrong with you?' That's what I'm thinking with myself. That's what my thoughts are, basically, now."
ON THE PUBLIC'S PERCEPTION
Rihanna: Doesn't want to be judged for her choices, especially her decision to return to Brown. "I'm a human being," she said during the Sawyer interview, "and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal and [have] all these expectations. I'm not perfect."
Brown: Told MTV News that he is reportedly "confused right now as far as the public perception of me ... I got the people that come out and support me and I got the people who don't want to see me do anything. They want to see me, kind of, basically, in jail."
ON THE FUTURE
Rihanna: Has learned a valuable life lesson and, while speaking to Sawyer, cautioned battered women to "come out of the situation and look at it third-person for what it really is, and then make your decision because love is so blind."
Brown: Also appears to have grown from this experience and is asking himself hard questions. Brown to 'MTV News': "It's like, 'How do we get past it? How do you, Chris' -- talking to myself -- 'how do you go from point A to point B? How do you learn from your mistakes, turn it into a positive and help people with the situation, and at the end of the day become the person that you want to be?"
Watch Rihanna's interview with Diane Sawyer on 'Good Morning America'.
-- Donald Deane
