In Rihanna's much-anticipated interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America this morning, we saw a poised, beautiful girl talking about a painful subject.
She discussed how then-boyfriend Chris Brown beat her down in February, how she managed to break free from him and how she feels about it now: "Eff love."
Rihanna declares she's "strong" but still embarrassed and ashamed.
"I fell in love with that person. That's embarrassing," she says of Chris Brown. "That's embarrassing that that's the type of person that I feel in love with."
Even worse, she says, was how she went back to him unconditionally.
Sawyer noted that, on average, a woman will take a beating seven times before leaving. The 21-year-old star's chilling response: "Eight or nine, actually."
"I don't want that to happen ... It's completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself," Rihanna admits. "The minute the physical wounds go away, you want this thing to go away. This is a memory you don't want to have ever again."
Rihanna says her teenage fans finally helped her ditch Chris Brown.
"When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result into some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part," she explains.
"Even if Chris never hit me again, who's to say their boyfriend won't?"
"Who's to say that they won't kill these girls? These are young girls. I just didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened."
"It was a big wakeup call for me," she adds. "I'll say that to any young girl who's going through domestic violence. Come out of the situation and look at it third person for what it really is and make your decision. Because love is blind."
Tomorrow morning's second segment will detail what happened in the car that fateful February night. The full interview will air on 20/20 on Friday evening.
Rihanna is finally breaking her silence to promote her new album, Rated R. Interestingly, Brown also has a new album out and is giving similar interviews.
Ironically, it is Chris who seems less apologetic than Rihanna to his fans, and still seems bitter at "haters," even though he has apologized for what he did.
"I'm confused right now as far as the public perception [of me]," he told MTV, adding that there are some people out there who "basically want me in jail."
Follow the jump for Rihanna's interview on Good Morning America ...
Share
19 Comments
November 5th, 2009 11:06 AM
Very ironic that she's suddenly decided to speak out when her single has been released. If she was so concerned, why not say something before. Although I don't condone a man hitting a woman. She is doing this for publicity for her albumn.
November 5th, 2009 11:46 AM
Yes she is speaking out now because she has to promote her album anyway. The record label wants her to do interviews. If it were up to her she would probably have tried to maintain her privacy as I don't think she is enjoying this one bit, but because part of her job is to be a public figure and the face of her own music she probably felt it was going to come up anyway so might as well approach it this way.
November 5th, 2009 11:59 AM
None the less, her words are inspiring and hopefully she reaches those who need it in similar situations. Altohugh I highly doubt that it will.
November 5th, 2009 12:05 PM
Crybaby. I hope she isn't running this town tonight.
November 5th, 2009 12:53 PM
i think y'all bitches n niggaz should let riri be! albumn or not, an abuse was taken place, so whenever she decide to speak she's free to. rihanna 2 d world! chris brown to d ground.
November 5th, 2009 1:00 PM
well it is good that she is talking about it now
November 5th, 2009 3:07 PM
i still like her, she is the victim she gets critised for no reason when it should be chris
November 5th, 2009 6:23 PM
I am just sitting here laughing to myself. If this girl wanted to help others than she should own up to her part in this whole ordeal. Everyone seems to forget what happened before this whole thing exploded. She was reading a text message in HIS phone from another women. Having been a 20 year girl before I know what my mind set was and how my emotions have gotten the best of me before so I can only come to the conclusion that she threw the first punch or whatever she did and it went from there. It does not in no way excuse Chris for the beat down he gave her but she is as clearly wrong as he was. I have no sympathy for her other than she thinks she is slick by trying to open her mouth now that her album is about to drop. She knows what she is doing. Chris keeps trying to be nice but what he should have done is told the WHOLE story. If you want to tackle teen dating violence, then you need to share the whole scenerio so that others can learn from it. It goes both ways. Just because of her gender doesnt give her the right to attack and think she shouldnt be hit back. Both should have known better. But she is clearly no victim and I WILL NOT dub Chris as an abuser and if we all would be honest with ourselves we have walked this road before. That was simply was a fight gone bad that TMZ got a hold off.
November 5th, 2009 6:45 PM
This is such a tragedy,But rihanna is being smart. Her album is about to dropp, and like Usher, she is going to get PAID!!! Chris is going on Mtv to tell his side of the story .Its going to be interesting to see what both sides look like.
November 6th, 2009 3:00 AM
clever move riri!i jst dnt buy her good gal image.theres more 2 her than wat meets the eye.i c an insecure little gal and her relationship with chris brought al of those insecurities out.why was she reading his text messages in da first place,even married couples dnt du dat.i think she deserved wat she got and she probably wud get back with him if this wasnt publisised.i respect chris 4 nt coming out with the real story yet-coz he cud use it 2 his advantage just lyk shes doin so..