Earlier today we got our first look at Rihanna‘s new music video for her song Wait Your Turn (The Wait Is Ova) and right now we get to see her on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Glamour magazine. Glamour is the first magazine she spoke with publicly about the assault she endured from ex-boyfriend Chris Brown back in February. In her coverstory interview, Rihanna opens up about that horrible experience in a very open way. Here is Rihanna‘s Glamour cover and some excerpts from her coverstory interview:
Months after being attacked by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna is speaking out about her healing process in December issue of Glamour magazine. “My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see,” she says. “They have followed every step of my recovery. “The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard. Now I can help speak for those women.” Named Glamour’s 2009 Woman of the Year, Rihanna, 21, will be honored in a special ceremony at New York’s Carnegie Hall on Nov. 9. In addition to opening up about her difficult year, the singer – and fashionista – will also appear in a pictorial spread, wearing clothing by Balmain, Gucci and Jason Wu. As for the massive scrutiny following the February 2009 attack, Rihanna says, “I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day.” And, she says, the past nine months have been a source of growth and strength. “I am stronger, wiser and more aware. You don’t realize how much your decisions affect people you don’t even know, like fans.” The singer has already released the power ballad “Russian Roulette” off her fourth album, Rated R, due in stores Nov. 23. “I’ve put everything I’ve wanted to say for the past eight months into my music,” she says. “[It's] super fearless – which is exactly how I feel right now. I am in a really good place.”
Rihanna‘s interview is much more substantive than is presented here. After the jump, check out a few photos from her Glamour photospread and read a few more quotes form this powerful coverstory …
Glamour: Let’s talk about this past year—you’ve obviously been through some difficult things. How did the people around you help you cope?
Rihanna: My friends and family have been extremely supportive, and everyone has been there for me. But at some point you are there alone. It’s a lonely place to be—no one can understand. That’s when you get close to God.
Glamour: Are you referring to the [Chris Brown] incident?
Rihanna: I am talking about starting with the night [before] the Grammys and then on. That was not the only thing that occurred this year. The picture leaking…it was one thing after another.
Glamour: You’re talking about the photo [reportedly of Rihanna’s injured face taken by police after Brown assaulted her] that was allegedly leaked by cops. You handled that so well; you kept silent in the press.
Rihanna: It was humiliating; that is not a photo you would show to anybody. I felt completely taken advantage of. I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it’s my life. I was disappointed, especially when I found out the photo was [supposedly leaked by] two women.
Glamour: How has this event changed you as a person, as a woman?
Rihanna: I’m stronger, wiser and more aware. You don’t realize how much your decisions affect people you don’t even know, like fans.
Glamour: Do you think you’ve gotten your strength from your mom?
Rihanna: Definitely. My mom gave us the tools to survive…. My parents separated when I was eight or nine. I helped her raise my [youngest] brother, because my mom was working all the time. He’s my favorite.
Glamour: Do you feel that this experience has laid the groundwork for coping with anything so public again?
Rihanna: It has taught me so much. I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day. It was like, What, there are helicopters circling my house? There are 100 people in my cul-de-sac? What do you mean, I can’t go back home?
Glamour: If you could offer a message to the millions of young women who look up to you, what would you tell someone who found herself in a similar situation?
Rihanna: Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight. It’s one of the things we [women] will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and they have followed every step of my recovery. The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn’t heard. Now I can help speak for those women.
Glamour: I think that’s a great message. What about your new album? What’s it like?
Rihanna: I was involved in a lot of the writing. I put everything I’ve wanted to say for the past eight months into my music. The songs are really personal. It’s rock ‘n’ roll, but it’s really hip-hop: If Lil’ Wayne and Kings of Leon like my album, then I’ll feel good. I would not change anything about it. Even if people don’t love it, I made exactly the piece of art that I wanted to make. It’s super fearless—which is exactly how I feel right now. I am in a really good place.
Click HERE to read the entire online version of this interview. It’s an extremely interesting read … particularly because of how open Rihanna is thruout. Later on this week, Ri Ri will be featured on Good Morning America and then 20/20 on ABC to talk more about her life in the past 9 months … starting with the incident where Chris Brown brutally beat her. It cannot be easy but I do commend her for talking about this incident … mebbe her experience will help others avoid an assault like the one she endured.
Krissy, no ones asking her to be a spokes person..ive said many times that thats a huge thing to put on her…BUT to go from acting like nothing happened to having 2 interviews around the time of an album releae – convenient.
Krissy, are you apart of the Rhianna Fanclub Legion? Why are you so vehemently attacking everyone that disagrees with your point of view? Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and just so happens that some people feel that her talking about her beating in time with her singles is just a bit strange. Jeez, learn to relax.
And for your information, I’m not laughing at Rhianna’s situation. In no way or shape is it funny. I am purely laughing at the fact that in the context of your agrument on this website, you, madame, severely got owned.
She has to talk about it. There’s no way she could promote the album and NOT talk about. That’s all anyone would be asking. I think that she hopes that if she talks about it a bit, people will stop asking.
I really don’t like the fact that she says “I was embarrassed” CHRIS BROWN is the one who should be embarrassed and NOT the victim. She needs to grow up and grow some cajones!
Wow she does look very pretty when she smiles, more girly and less.. i dunno, futuristic looking lol.
Agreed, i think its a little TOO convenient that this is happening now just around the time her album is coming out. I like me some RiRi, BUT her new music is CRAP. Not a fan of it at all.
@Tracy – Well she can’t really help it if she felt embarassed… yeah, Chris Brown should totally be ashamed and he pretty much makes me sick at this point. But that was a horrible picture, and it would be hard to have millions of people see it.
@Amy – I totally agree.
Krissy was being compassionate and fair instead of acting like a moron and nitpicking – she didn’t “vehemently attack” anybody, you fool who posts repeatedly under different names. pffff
who was posting under different names?
@krissy, I would respond to you, but I think you’re far too rabid to be reasonable.
I will say that I love rihanna, have bought her previous albums, and will likely buy this next album. I destroyed my chris brown album when news of this abuse first came out, and I turn the channel whenever one of his songs comes on. I believe he got off far, far too easily. as I said before, I appreciate the fact that she is finally willing to talk about this, but, for me, it would’ve meant more if it was, oh, a week ago, when it was october and national domestic violence awareness month. if she wanted to ‘represent a voice that isn’t really heard,’ and ‘help speak for those women,’ I just feel like it wouldn’t be couched along with promotion for her new album, conveniently dropping in just a few weeks. interviews like this aren’t scheduled overnight, so it’s not like rihanna called 20/20 yesterday and said “hey, want to interview me this week? sweet!”
so, yes, I guess that makes me a mean, mean, superbitch who dares to dictate to a domestic violence victim when she should get over it. cause that’s sooooo totally what I’m doing here.
Wow Trent, way to get ‘em talking!
I get how people are saying that she is just talking now for the publicity. But you HAVE to promote your album and with something this huge hanging over your head, there is no way the reports aren’t going to ask about it. So at that point, you pretty much have to say what you feel. It would be the same with anyone else. As soon as their next big project was coming out and they were promoting it, they would be asked about something like this. And if she had dodged the questions now, you guys would still be upset. She is 21, give her a break.
@ Lulita: i totally agree with you, what gives her the right to be woman of the year, just because she was physically assaulted? thousands of woman are beaten daily and you dont see them being honoured. no. it just disgusts me to no end. if rihanna is gonna do an interview it should be solely on the abuse on quickly change into her new album. like, “Glamour: I think that’s a great message. What about your new album? What’s it like?” after she states a powerful message they ask about her album … doesnt make any sense to me. & for the record i dont hate rihanna and i could careless about chris brown. but even if rihanna did no promotion for the album people are still going to pick it up for the one fact what happened 9 months ago.
I am not attacking anyone nor am I being “rabid”. As Brit would say, you can’t handle my truth. ;) I am just sticking up for a victim of domestic violence, something that is a very real and horrible thing. Can you blame me when people suggest that because she is rich and has “position” that she should be treated differently as a victim? Liz, you are judging someone over 1 week??? Seriously? ***Some of you are judging a woman on how she gets up from literally being beaten down***. Take a moment to understand that. IMO, Crawl, take baby step, do whatever you have to do to get back up. That’s all you can ask of another human being. People will use this terrible experience as as entertainment. They want the juicy details, and for some of them it will be just to fill voids in their day. Have patience for a person who probably knows this. She also probably knows that this event will probably define her career no matter what she does. Pressure is going to be intense as people and companies exploit her story, there really is no way to avoid it. Ya’ll can be as cold and cruel to her as you want, but I just hope that if anyone in your lives has a near death experience at the hands of someone they trusted and loved, that you will be more sympathetic.
@Krissy: I don’t think youre fully understanding what I believe a lot of people are trying to get a cross here. It’s not that I (and I believe many others) don’t sympathize with what she has gone through, and I would not think twice if Rihanna never felt comfortable enough to open up to the public about what happened. Its merely how she chose to do it, rather than how long it took. While it is definitely possible that this moment in time was exactly when she finally felt good about being a “voice that needs to be heard”, it just seems too coincidental. It might not be of course, so I’m not going to get all worked up over it, its not my business, but can you honestly say its not a little bit hard to believe the sincerity of the interview? Maybe its just poor timing and not her intention, but regardless, it takes a lot away from it to have this all come out at this time of promotion. Young girls in particular could easily misinterpret this as “its good to exploit other peoples sympathy to gain success”. Again, might not be her intention, but it seems a little strange.
Thanks for your respectful tone! :) I understand, I just don’t think that there is a “right” and “wrong” way to handle this situation. No matter when she talked about it, who she talked to,etc., she would be criticized for it. While others can degrade her for “how she chose to do it”, I just don’t think that giving or taking a month or two really reflects that much difference in a person’s sincerity. It seems like nitpicking when there really is a much bigger picture going on.
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@Umbrella,Liz,&Lulita Krissy shut up. This is for publicity and publicity only. She doesn”t give a shit about “representing a voice that isn’t really heard” if she did it wouldn’t be in an interview promoting her new album. As a victim of domestic abouse myself I am constantly participating in rallys, having talks in our local highschools on the subject, and traveling to our state capital(Austin) to fight to have laws on domestic violence and stalking written up and passed. I’m just your average oridinary person trying to truly “represent a voice that isn’t really heard” in my own little way. She’s a celebrity she could be doing SO MUCH MORE than just trying to sell CDs.
@Umbrella,Liz,&Lulita sorry about that, I meant applause for ya’ll
@ krissy, yep, I’m judging her over one whole week. I ‘seriously’ am. way to have absolutely no argument or reasonable response to what I said beyond reducing it down to me ‘seriously’ judging her over ‘one whole week.’ rihanna is no shrinking violet, she’s been out and about in the spotlight regularly for several months now since the abuse. all I’m saying is that maybe you should open your mind to the fact that the timing is a teeeeeeeny bit suspect.