Yesterday we learned that pop star Rihanna would be appearing on Good Morning America today and tomorrow and on 20/20 tomorrow night in order to talk publicly about the physical assault that she suffered at the hands of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown back in February. In part I of her interview this morning, Rihanna talks a bit about the physical violence she endured and expresses embarrassment for enduring it for as long as she did. Here are a few screencaps from her interview on GMA with Diane Sawyer and some deets about this part of their interview:
Pop sensation Rihanna is speaking out about the night her then-boyfriend Chris Brown beat her, saying it was “humiliating” and “traumatizing” to admit the assault took place and that it was “wrong” that she went back to Brown afterwards. “It was a wake-up call. It was a wake-up call for me. Big time,” Rihanna told “Good Morning America’s” Diane Sawyer in her first television interview discussing the assault. “I will say that to any young girl who is going through domestic violence, don’t react off of love. F love. Come out of the situation and look at it in the third person and for what it really is.” The pop star said it was “embarrassing” that Brown was the type of person she fell in love with. “So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It’s humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It’s a traumatizing experience,” she said. Her decision to go back to Brown, she said, was a mistake. “I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong,” she said. “But again … I’m a human being and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal. And all these expectations, I’m not perfect.” The 21-year-old star acknowledged that Brown held her in a headlock twice that night and bit her on the ear and fingers. After months of silence since the February beating, Rihanna decided to speak publicly about the ordeal so she can be a voice to help others who may be in danger of returning to abuse. “It’s completely normal to go back. It’s not right. I learned the hard way, but again, this is what I want people to know,” she said. “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 going back. “Even if Chris never hit me again, who is to say that their boyfriend won’t? Who’s to say that they won’t kill these girls?” she said. “These are young girls and I just didn’t realize how much of an impact I had on these girls’ lives until that happened.” After a nine-month hiatus, Rihanna is back on the music scene with a new hit album, “Rated R,” signaling a return from a time of intense loneliness following the assault. “One of the most lonely times I’ve been was in the past few months because nobody understands what it’s like,” she said. “There are a lot of women who’ve experienced what I did, but not in the public. So it made it really difficult. I just felt like, ‘Oh my God, here it goes, my little bit of privacy.’” In August, Brown was sentenced to five years of probation, six months of community service and one year of domestic violence counseling for assaulting the 21-year-old pop singer the night before the Grammy Awards. Portions of ABC News’ exclusive interview with Rihanna will air on “Good Morning America” at 7 a.m. E.T. Thursday, Nov. 5. Her full interview will air on “20/20″ at 10 p.m. E.T. Friday, Nov. 6.
So many people are so divided on Rihanna‘s decision to speak out … hell, people are so divided on the issue of domestic abuse. I personally feel that any time, no matter the circumstance, a person decides to open up publicly to talk about the abuse they endured at the hands of another person is the right time to do so. It is not anyone’s place to put time limits on when someone should open up, it’s not anyone’s place to question the reasoning or to immediately assume there is an ulterior motive … I can’t even begin to fully understand the emotional impact an abused person feels when they are finally ready to talk about their abuse. I fully expect the detractors will have more negative things to say about this new interview but if Rihanna‘s message is heard by just one person who learns from that message and saves themselves from an abusive situation then all of this is very much worth it. After the jump, watch video of Rihanna‘s interview on Good Morning America and hear her message from her own lips …
Part II of this interview will air tomorrow morning on GMA and then the full interview will air on 20/20 tomorrow night. I sincerely hope that in all these airings, Rihanna‘s message will make it thru all the negativity and criticism and find its home in the hearts and minds of those who need to hear it.
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P.S. I really don’t think she needs any help selling records! If anything, this horrible incident could have derailed her career but because she is coming forward in this way, she is turning something awful and painful into something potentially positive. I say bravo girlfriend!
Trent, I agree with you 100%. Thank you for having compassion for vicitms of abuse. I think if anyone actually takes the time to hear what she has to say, it is pretty evident WHY she waited to speak out, and it has nothing to do with record sales. Because it is a hard thing to go through, to wrap your head around, not to mention the invasion of your most basic privacy for the entire world to see. I highly recommend that those people who are doubting her actually listen to all of what she has to say. canaussiegirl, I agree with you as well. I went on a similar “rant” a couple days ago!
” Misogyny rears its ugly head yet again.”…sad, but true. :(
I totally agree with you Trent. And I also think that she wanted to speak now and be over and done with it before any other interviews.. Wouldn’t we have felt that there was a big elephant in the room if she didn’t talk about it before press rounds? Brave girl!
At a glance I thought she was Vanessa Williams. lol
I’m sure everyone agrees that domestic violence is taboo. And that anytime is the right time to speak out about it. However, it’s coming across as tacky that she is speaking out now…months after the incident…when she has an album to promote. It just seems that it’s part of her agenda….a little like the sob stories you see on Idol…kwim? I’m glad she’s finally speaking out, but I think it would have had more impact and credence a few months ago. JMO
@debho — I’m sorry, I can never see an abused person opening up about their ordeal as “tacky”.
I love Rihanna and I was so disappointed in her to see her go back to that animal after all that happened.
She’s just gone up in my estimations 100%
Rihanna has amazing courage and self-worth and nobody has taken that away from her!
She is a paragon to women out there. Many wouldn’t have the balls to do what she is doing now.
GO GIRL!!
I don’t think some people realize that it often takes months after an incident to talk about such events with ANYONE, much less to strangers and people who don’t have your best interest at heart. Some women go years before they will even talk to a therapist. I don’t think people understand the gravity of what this actually does to a person.
I don’t see it as tacky at all. I’m glad she spoke out.
Having an album coming out more than likely makes her feel like she is in control of her life again, giving her the strength she needs to speak out.
It took me years to speak about abuse. Ironicly that strength came when I was at a place in my life where I could be proud of myself.
It was not easy for Rihanna to speak out after what she’s been through, but she did it, and I applaud her for it.
Sorry, I meant that the timing was a little tacky, not the opening up. I think it’s great that she has, I just wish she’d done it at some other time, not when she was promoting her new album.
A coworker used to tell me about her brother’s ex-wife. She and her second husband would constantly behave like they were MMA or WWE stars. My coworker kept telling her to stop. One day, it did stop, when he shot her to death. My coworker now goes to schools and tells girls that you cannot ever put your hands on their boyfriends. Women need to know that they cannot box with men. You put your hands on them and they might fight back. Sad but true. Although Chris shouldn’t have beat Rihanna, it seems that she escalated the situation several times. She even bragged about hitting her brother in the head with a bottle. I hope she learned her lesson as it seems Chris head. I am blaming both parties involved.
Its like the kids back in high school who used to do volunteer work just to put it on their college resumes/apps. Its not very genuine, but Im glad they did it all the same since they were helping others…her timing is awful, but it’s good that she has finally spoken out.
Who are you people to judge her? If she uses the worst part of her life to better herself then that’s her choice.
This is why so many women keep silent. People who do not understand judge. If she would have waited till after her album dropped people would say it is to increase sales on it. She is always going to be having an album coming out and she will always be judged by ignorent people. If you listen to what she said she did not talk about it in the begining because she went back to him. It is a cycle many victims go through. I hope you are all less judgemental when this is your sister or daughter. Her timing is awful? So sorry it did not suite the way you thought she should do this.
It is so very sad.
@Jeana — Well said, thank you.
@canaussiegirl – I couldn’t have said it ANY better.
who cares when she talks about it. she is talking about it now. we all need to stop judging others for their actions and we need to start a dialouge as to why abuse occurrs in the first place and how we end it. what we need to realize is that by attacking her and Chris we too are abusers. we may not be attacking with our fist, but we are attacking with our words. we do things out of fear or love. by riri talking about this, she is moving from a place of love and forgiveness and she is healing not only herself, but Chris, and other abusees/abusers. she is not only empowering herself, but she is empowering others as well.
Ack, the extremely judgmental comments on this post are making me sick. Jeana (and canaussiegirl and Trent, for that matter), thank you for saying what you said, I completely agree. It can take years for a person to recover from any kind of traumatic experience, and talking about it and conveying it to others can be even more difficult. I hate that people are taking on the tone that the rest of the world “deserved” to hear her speak out much sooner (or later)… Rihanna owes nothing to anyone, ESPECIALLY when her privacy was repeatedly violated by the media. It’s my guess that Rihanna, as such a public figure, has actually had very little choice in dealing with the matter privately in her own way. Before she ever got a chance to speak for herself, that photograph was released without her consent and spoke for her instead. I can’t image how unfair that must have felt. I commend Rihanna for her courage in making the decision to speak out, and by doing so, attempt to help others with her story. As someone else already mentioned, the timing of this is entirely irrelevant, and those who believe that the timing is wrong or inappropriate clearly have no understanding for victims of abuse.
trent. that is so well said. thankyou! everyone keeps criticizing her for not speaking out or shying away from media. i even read on some site people bashing her for her new music not being so personal and stuff irrelevant to the incident. i was like WTF? since when do personal issues always have to be sung about by musicians. last i heard, beyonce is singing about being a single lady and then slamming guys in If i were a boy. Hmmmmmm…
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Anyway, even people are saying she is doing this for publicity with the album release. It may seem like that and they probably did it to fit in with that but also… before the single release and announcement and Run this town…. Rihanna was totally media shy. All you saw was her leaving a hotel or getting into a car. No events or red carpets etc… she stayed away from that stuff cause she wanted time off. She wanted to escape to recover and have time for herself. Now she has grown and learnt, she is ready to come out, release an album and get back to business and also talk about it.
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Anyway, who cares when the timing was made.At least she has made the decision to speak about it – you don’t have to. No one says its wrong to speak or not to speak. But she is making the effort, so salute her for that. I still cannot believe people criticize her yet its Chris Brown the douche that deserves all the negativity and people salute him… geez,only in this world.
She has been silent for months and puts out a record. I don’t think it’s a promotion tactic, I think it has to do with the fact that she is now back on the scene again. There is no way she can even try to promote or do an appearance without the violent incident haunting her.
That said and done, she still talks like a “battered woman”. All the talk about “love” and “unconditional love” kind of makes me shiver. I’m sure she loved him but the reasons for going back are more than likely about him saying “I’m sorry. I apologize. It will never happen again….”, or “I love you – you drive me crazy, that’s all.” or “You made me angry…” or “If you leave, I’ll kill you…”. I’m sure he had lots and lots of control over her and played the typical abusive man games with her to make her stay in his life. Love – I don’t know about that so much.