Yesterday on Good Morning America, Rihanna had a message for her fellow women who have suffered domestic abuse at the hands of their men: eff love!
She meant that in the sense that you can't take a man back just because you love him, as she did with Chris Brown. You have to stand up for yourself.
Today, in the second part of her interview with Diane Sawyer, Rihanna described, for the first time in her own words, just how bad Brown's attack was.
While it was all happening, Brown "had no soul in his eyes," she said.
We've read the police reports and seen the graphic, post-beating pics, but to hear Rihanna recount the events of the evening in detail is still shocking.
She says Chris really threatened to kill Rihanna for calling her assistant that night, and while she doesn't believe he ever follow through with that scare tactic, the physical abuse she recounts was both very real and deeply upsetting.
Rihanna in her interview with Diane Sawyer for GMA and 20/20.
"I fended him off with my feet from one ... side of the car, but ... it was not like, it was not like a fight with each other. I just ... wanted it to stop," she said.
"I was bleeding. I was swollen in my face. So there was no way of me getting home, except for, my next option was to get out of the car and walk ... start walking in a gown, in a bloody face? So I really don't know what my plan was."
"I didn't have a plan. That whole night was not part of my plan."
By the time the police came, she was already "battered" and when asked what caused the fight initially, she would only say that her boyfriend lied to her:
"I caught him in a lie. I was being more annoyed at that point in our relationship he had to lie about something so stupid, I couldn't take that he kept lying to me. And he couldn't take that I wouldn't drop it. And ... it was ugly."
Follow the jump for more details and a video of Rihanna's interview ...
She said she got a booty call text from another girl and caught him.
Rihanna says he couldn't let go of the fact that she wouldn't drop it, she couldn't take the fact that he wouldn't admit what he was doing wrong and it escalated.
He punched her in the face - while driving - as blood poured out of her mouth. He pounded her nearly unconscious and ultimately walked away from the scene.
Despite how badly she got hurt, she was feeling a "host of emotions " and that her love for Chris Brown "blinded" her from seeing the reality of the situation.
"The physical wounds go away, you put it in the back of your head and you start lying to yourself subconsciously," she said, noting that it took getting over the hurdle of feeling the need to protect her first love before she could walk away.
"I just said to him, 'I can't do this.' I resented him. I resented him so much. And I always put the tough face on and try to just try to play it off. But he knew."
"He kept asking me, 'You hate me, don't you? You hate me.' And I would lie and I would say, 'No, no. And ... I did hate him. Everything about him annoyed me. So finally, I just said, we can't. We can't do this. I cannot continue to do this."
Rihanna says a part of her may never recover from this.
"The thing that men don't realize, when they hit a woman ... the face, the broken arm, the black eye, it's going to heal. That's not .... the problem. It's the scar inside."
"You flash back. You ... remember it all the time."
"It comes back to you whether you like it or not. And it's painful," she admitted, fighting back tears. "So I don't think he understood that. They never do."
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37 Comments
November 6th, 2009 2:56 PM
Really tragic but it's nice to hear that she was strong enough to overcome him by leaving and not looking back. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. I commend her for speaking the truth especially with such a difficult and painful situation.
November 6th, 2009 3:34 PM
way to go chris. real mature. you didn't deserve her anyway, tool
November 6th, 2009 4:13 PM
Now maybe, she can move on.....he, on the other hand, is about to experience another wave of backlash.....he deserves the anguish he is and will be experiencing, as a result of his actions...I kinda hope his career can survive it and his reformation serves as an example to prospective abusers.
November 6th, 2009 4:55 PM
Well of course she will carry on with her life...I wonder if the guy will end up in jail for a while...
November 6th, 2009 5:05 PM
um...every 8 seconds in America a child is hit. Why is this the first time people are hyped up about domestic violence? It is a HUGE problem that can't be ignored. She's lucky she was able to cut ties.
November 6th, 2009 11:15 PM
I don't understand why everybody takin sides in the situation. Rihanna and chris were both in the wrong probably because no man would beat a woman unless the woman give them reason to. Chris is already doin community service and might do time and he did apologize and said he didn't wanna hurt her. So people just need to fall the f*** back and let chris and rihanna do them.
November 6th, 2009 11:25 PM
olivia u sure do get your ass kick by your man. Thats the way a women thinks who gets hurt and doesnt move on ; specially a women who gets in physical fights with their man an at the end they say he hurt me but i hurt him worst!
November 6th, 2009 11:30 PM
I don't why everybody takin sides chris and rihanna were probably both in the wrong. No man would hit a woman unless the woman give them reason to. Besides chris is already doin community service and he's on 5 years of probation and they might investigate
Even more and throw him in jail. I mean d*** what more do yall want from the man. It aint like he can go back that night and change everything, so yall need to forgive and forget. E erybody knows chris brown would've never done anything tragic like that, everything happens for a reason. So people just need to fall the f*** back and let and rihanna do them.
November 6th, 2009 11:42 PM
What ever the reason was a Man should never ever put a hand on a wonem ,and this wasnt the 1st time cris hitted her, if she would had done anything about this ,he would of keep on going. And olivia i dodnt care about cris and rihanna what makes me mad is that people like u deffend this type of cases........ just to let u KNow my mother was physically hurt by my father (s..t)
November 6th, 2009 11:47 PM
and you know whats the worst is that she never deffended her self. she once found out he was cheeting on her; just for the fact that she asked him he graved her and slamed her body to the wall that made her bleed like if she was on her period