Yesterday we saw part 1 of Good Morning America‘s interview with Rihanna, her first televised interview since being assaulted by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown back in February, and today we get to see part 2 of GMA‘s interview. Today, Rihanna spoke specifically about that fateful night when she was beat bloody and reveals what the circumstances were that led to the assault. Here are a few screencaps from her interview and some excerpts from the piece:

Rihanna is breaking her silence about the night then-boyfriend Chris Brown beat her, telling Diane Sawyer that he had “no soul in his eyes.” “It wasn’t the same person that says I love you. It was not those… eyes,” she told Sawyer in an exclusive interview. “He had … no soul in his eyes. Just blank. …He was clearly blacked out. There was no person when I looked at him.” The February 2009 assault left the 21-year-old battered and bruised, and Brown was sentenced to five years of probation, community labor, and one year of domestic-violence counseling. “All I kept thinking all the time: When is it going to stop? When it is going to stop?” she said. After the attack, Rihanna briefly reunited with Brown, but said that she never forgave him. “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, I can do anything face, and just try to play it off. But he knew. He knew it. He kept asking me, ‘You hate me, don’t you? You hate me,’” she told Sawyer. “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.” Before the dramatic incident, the couple’s seemingly fairytale relationship began as a friendship. A 16-year-old Rihanna — with a growing empire of endorsements, fashion spreads, and a bank account in the multi-millions — said she was attracted to 15-year-old Brown’s personality, humor and charm. “We were just friends. We always played. So it was … a good feeling to come out of the adult lifestyle and just, when you’re in your room, just be yourself,” she said of their year-and-a-half-long romance. “He was definitely my first big love.” But the starlet said that the deeper they fell for one another, the darker their relationship became, bordering on an “obsession.” “To fall in love with your best friend it … can be scary because the … the emotions get really, they get the best of you. Like it takes over,” she said. “The more in love we became, the more dangerous we became for each other, equally as dangerous.” Rihanna recounted the details of the “ugly” night, describing how she and Brown got in a heated argument over a text message on Brown’s phone. “I caught him in a lie. And he wouldn’t tell the truth … I was being more annoyed at that point in our relationship he had to lie about something so stupid,” she said. “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.”
Yes, that fateful night got very ugly from there :( After the jump, read more of Rihanna‘s interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America today and watch video of the popstarlet telling her story, in her own words …
According to the police affidavit, Brown shoved Rihanna into the window of his car, while driving. He punched her several times in the eye and said, “I’m going to beat the shit out of you when we get home.” When Rihanna tried to call her assistant’s phone, Brown warned, “You just did the stupidest thing ever. I’m going to kill you,” and threw her phone out the window. Rihanna confirmed the brutal account, but told Sawyer she knew Brown wouldn’t act on his words. “I know he was saying it to scare me,” she said. Rihanna acknowledged that Brown bit her and had her in a headlock until she had trouble breathing. She told Sawyer that she did not try to fight back. “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 … I really just wanted it to stop,” she said. Her screams prompted someone to call 911 and report the disturbance to the Los Angeles Police Department. Rihanna told Sawyer that, by that point, she was “battered.” “I was bleeding. I was swollen in my face,” she said. “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.”
To the shock of many fans, the two pop stars reunited after the assault — a decision which Rihanna now calls a mistake. “I went through … a host of emotions. It was confusing for me. I was still attached by love. But I wasn’t thinking about … the reality of the situation,” she said. In denial, she said her love for Brown clouded her judgment. “I made a selfish decision for love. It was a wakeup call. …Love is so blind. It is so blind. “You start lying to yourself. … This is a memory you don’t want to have ever again. … the physical wounds go away, you put it in the back of your head and you start lying to yourself subconsciously,” she said. “I felt very lonely. …I couldn’t even go back to my own house because there were 200 people outside with cameras, paparazzi, journalists, fans, neighbors.” She told Sawyer that the media blitz was overwhelming and extremely isolating. “This is why I made my decision. …I felt really lonely. …There were times when I cried. There were times when I just sat there all day and watched TV,” she said. Rihanna said she was “embarrassed” and “humiliated” by the graphic photo of her that was leaked to the press after Brown’s attack, in which her face appears battered and swollen. “Who likes seeing their face like that? …I feel humiliated. I get angry, all over again, every time I see it,” she said. “The whole thing plays back in my head. So I don’t like to see it.” Rihanna told Sawyer that at the time, she even convinced herself that she had to protect Brown from scrutiny. “If I feel this depressed, then what is he going through?” she said. “I had to protect him. I thought that I had to let him know, don’t do anything crazy. Like just hang in there…The whole world hates him now. His fans, his career. He just, he lost me, I just need to let him know; don’t do anything stupid …I’m not saying that’s an excuse for me to go back, but this is what I was thinking about.” The singer said she replayed the incident in her head, and began to question what she could have done to set off Brown. “Initially you start thinking, what could I have possibly have said to make him hit me?” she said. “Eventually you’re like, you know … stop. Stop. Stop. Ask yourself. There’s nothing you can do or say to make somebody do that to you. That’s on them. And … I just knew he had a problem. I knew he had a problem. He had a temper. He needed to get some help. And … and he did.” According to psychologists, returning to an abuser is not unusual for victims of domestic violence. “I’m a human being and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal. And all these expectations, I’m not perfect,” she said. “The thing that men don’t realize, when they hit a woman, it’s… the face, the broken arm, the black eye, it’s going to heal. That’s not … the problem. It’s the scar inside,” she said. “You flashback. You … you remember it all the time. It comes back to you whether you like it or not. And it’s painful. So I don’t think he understood that. They never do.” Shortly after the March trip to Miami with Brown, she realized she made a mistake and broke things off. “The past few months, I just, I didn’t talk about it to anyone, to no one. Not my friends. Not my family … It’s not something that I wanted to relive. It’s not something I wanted to think about … I just put it away in a box…and just ignored it really.”
The star, who has sold 15 million albums, — is back after a nine-month hiatus with a new single, “Russian Roulette,” from her highly-anticipated album “Rated R” to be released later this month. “I feel when I look back on the four years, I feel like I’ve grown so much … in such a short space of time and achieved a lot,” she said. “I’m blessed.” The singer told Sawyer that she is not dating anyone now and can’t imagine getting back together with Brown. “I don’t have a desire at all to be with him,” she said. “… I can’t see how we … would get back together, but I’m also not God and I can’t predict the future.” Rihanna decided to speak publicly about the incident to warn others who may be in danger of returning to abuse. “I knew I had to do this in order to move on for me and in order for my fans to move on with me because it would always be a question in their mind,” she said. “I don’t want that five years from now every time they see Rihanna, they think of Chris Brown beating me. That’s not who I am. It’s just one thing that happened to me.”
I am so glad that Rihanna finally feels strong enough to talk about her assault … we learned yesterday that she was initially embarrassed and today she opened up about the mistakes that she made in the wake of her assault (I was among the shocked fans who could not believe that she would go back to him after he so brutally beat her) but it sounds like she has finally gotten to a place where her strength has given her the ability not only to speak out but to move on. I absolutely applaud her decision to speak out about this horrible incident.
Here is video of Rihanna‘s appearance on Good Morning America earlier today:
The full interview will air on 20/20 on ABC tonight. I must reiterate that I am pleased that Rihanna‘s interview is airing so many times on national television … it is my hope that her message will reach the hearts and minds of those who may be in her similar abused situation and will find their own strength in order to get themselves out of that dangerous situation.
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I commend her for stating that while she still loves him she doesn’t need to be with him. That’s such an important lesson, IMO. I think so many people think if you love someone you HAVE to be with them. So not true. She loves him and yet recognizes they need to be apart–they’re dangerous/toxic for one another. I couldn’t talk about this so calmly. Good for her.
It does happen all the time that abused women return to the abuser. So it didn’t surprise me that she did. But then ending the relationship and moving on with her life was such a brave thing to do. I’m glad she spoke out-she can send a message that once abused does not mean always a victim.
Stay strong Rihanna!!! I’m so happy she’s able to share her story. It’s a great message to her fans.
As for Chris Brown: he needs help and i do feel sorry in that aspect but that’s as far as my sympathy goes for him. I hope hearing the account of what happened in HER words now will make the Chris Brown fans realize that it isn’t acceptable and what he did is lower than scum.
I give her such kudos for coming out and speaking about her story, because she is opening herself up for more speculation than when it initialy happened. I understand so much of what she said about loving him but knowing its not right for her, she doesn’t have to hate him to be over it and i commend her for saying so.
plus i love the way she sounds, i dont think i have really ever heard her talk.
i cant take her seriously wearing that outfit & that hair. oh my.
@sarah: are you for real? You’re missing the whole point & seriousness of this interview because of your shallow opinions about material things? Time to grow up.
I highly commend Rihanna for taking this stand against domestic violence. Sharing her story and showing how strong she really is as an individual is going to help a LOT of women who are/were in her situation. Kudos.
@TJ; yeah she is telling her story; she can tell her story without that rediculous hair and that nasty outfit, they are not needed and for me actually quite distracting.
Other then that, she is brave for doing what she’s doing, kudos to her!
LMAO @Juneh! Now.. I feel so bad that she was a victim of domestic violence, I hate to see anyone have to go thru that horrible ordeal. I can not think about the kind of interesting timing of her interviews and talking about all of this… just before her cd comes out. I hope I’m wrong and it’s not just capitalizing on the press. I wish her happiness…and hope both she & Chris Brown can come out of this having learned some tough life lessons.
@ SuziLee in Rihanna’s line of work I think it’s absolutely brilliant & crucial the timing of an interview such as this! Her reps know that everyone is interested in her every move & her very private matters (that anyone else would be able to go through on their own) and probably had her do this to core into the emotions of all her fans to support her in moving on… by buying her CD!! I think it’s fair actually, in her own words she said that this embarrassed her to talk about, so I’m sure she didn’t want to talk about it unless it benefited her somehow in the long run in her aquarium of a life! So why not before the release of her new album!?
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I don’t know how i feel about this whole situation…Don’t get me wrong, what Chris Brown did is wrong. But for Rihanna to keep talking just means she’s not allowing her self or Chris Brown to more forward with their lives. She openly acknowledges she saw something in that text message the infuriated her. She undoubtedly reacted. She hints to as much, not wanting to reveal that she may have ignited this. What happened to her shouldn’t happen to anyone but maybe she should add another message to women: If you think it’s OK to get rowdy with your bf or any other man, just because he doesn’t react the first time EXPECT to get hit back @ some point.
@syl — You are lucky if you have never suffered abuse at the hands of another but for abused persons TO MOVE ON they need to talk about their situations. You clearly do not understand the healing process in matters like this. I am glad she is speaking out and I hope she continues to do so … not only for her own well being but hopefully for the well being of others as well.
While I think what happened to her is terrible, I still find the timing of these interviews in bad taste. I understand that celebrities speak out to help other people think “well if it happened to them as well then it’s not as embarrassing that it happened to me”, but to use something this horrible to promote yourself and your upcoming album release is not acceptable.
@Jaded — Why is the timing “not acceptable”? When is it “acceptable” to open up on a public level about a horribly abusive relationship? Since when does talking about abuse generate album sales? If anything, the timing of this interview is generating hateful comments that might sour others to opening up about their own experiences. I think it is very dangerous to hurtle such negativity towards someone who is feeling brave enough to talk so openly about a matter as serious as domestic abuse. Anytime someone chooses to speak out is the right time … THAT is what is acceptable.
@ The Britney- It has absolutely nothing to do with RIhanna, but Britney Spears did an entire MTV documentary called “For The Record” to set things strainght before launching her world tour.
She sounds like she spoke from the heart.. on facts & feelings that many women have gone through. She opened herself up & I do not believe it was for publicity. She is a strong woman and I believe it was time for her to get this off of her chest, let people know they are not alone & the emotions they go through are normal. You have to listen to your conscience, which can be nearly impossible through love. Weren’t we all asking “Why is she with him?” Now we know. Now we understand. Bad outfit or not.
@ Trent – what i meant by she’s not letting herself move on is because she uses the media to get her msg to the public. If she wants to talk about it, talk to a therapist. If she wants to rise awarenes, launch a campain and talk to other victims. And yes i know the healing process because I was abused as a child, not ones, but twice by two different people. The only way i was able to deal with it was by talking to a therapist, and people i trusted who wouldn’t judge me. Because when people starts judging, then the question “maybe it was my fualt?” starts to come to mind specially in such fragile state. She has a long way to go with her recovery, and i wish her all the best.
@syl — I think she is using the media to spread her message about domestic abuse. It’s not for anyone to say how she should deal with the after-effects of her ordeal. I will happily support her desire to speak out on this matter however she chooses to do so.
@syl — Why are posting hateful things under the name “Angie”? Your ip address is the same (208.181.95.74) no matter what name you post under. If you continue to post under different names, all of your comments will be blocked as spam.
@syl while your abuse is sad and I’m glad you’re able to get through it personally; you have to realize people deal with things differently plus your story wasn’t in headlines and tabloids everywhere. Your battered picture wasn’t illegally leaked by cops (people we are suppose to trust) I mean her situation is extraordinarly different, she was battered by someone she loved and who she thought loved her and the WHOLE world needed to know. I’m glad she’s talking because there were so many people divided in the scandal…actually supporting Chris Brown because he’s cute and they like his music. I mean fine be a fan of entertainment but not abusing. but the amount if support for beating her was shocking to me. I think it’s her duty to speak because I was so shocked about the Chris brown support in the aftermath if the whole thing. So kudos to Rihanna. There is no “timing” for this!
*of
not if…I’m on my iPhone and I always have typos! Haha
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Sorry kids, ranting agian…….
She is using the media because she went through this in the public eye. We all “know” what happened. Most of us saw that photo. We have all been speculating what exactly happened that night. Chris said nothing on his “interview” on Larry King (which although I think he is a douche, is his right). 99% of people in abusive relationships or those who suffer any form of abuse are not going through it with millions of people watching.
People are going to talk about it regardless of if she does press or not. She is taking control of this situation and doing what she can to shut down the speculation.
For Rihanna to speak publicly about this and use what happened to her as a forum for others to learn from her experience is very commendable.
There is no right time for her to discuss this. If she had come out right after so many would have been on her back about it. If she refused to talk about it now, there would have been an outcry.
The poor girl cannot win. Listen to what she is saying instead of judging her for her timing, her hair or her outfit. All of that crap diminishes the importance of what she is saying. She is saying something that is really hard to hear and I think many people don’t understand about abusive relationships. That you love that person, even though they hit you. That you love them and go back even though they destroy you. That in spite of what they do (be it once or over years), you love them. This is a powerful message for young girls. That even though you love them, you can leave them. That even though you love them, you should leave them. That is is not always about love. As she said….. f*ck love.
Please she is obviously doing this for promotion. right around the time her album drops…I agree with the poster earlier who stated Britney didn’t use her “problems” for promotion. She let the music speak for it’s self.
@That girl — I think it’s brilliant to use her album’s promotion to spread the word about her abuse to as many people as possible. It’s clear her message is spreading far and wide.