Comments on: Rihanna Tells Her Full Story To ‘20/20’

By: It's Trent, Bitch!

It's Trent, Bitch! — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 07:32:20 +0000

@Sarah Jane — What is questionable about the timing? Now that the media is focused on her professionally, she is using the platform to talk about domestic abuse. Sounds like very good timing to me.

By: Sarah Jane

Sarah Jane — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:11:50 +0000

While I commend Rihanna for speaking out about her abuse, I have to question the timing. I whole-heartedly agree with the previous posters who have said that she and other abuse survivors should be able to talk about it whenever they feel comfortable with talking about it. HOWEVER, I find it … interesting that she would choose now to talk about it, and she just happens to be releasing a new album and a new single. Again, I’m not saying she shouldn’t talk about it, I just think the timing of it all is really questionable.

By: E Alan

E Alan — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 01:50:31 +0000

Maribella, if she” wasn’t Rihanna” ?? Really?? I’m sure you realize that women, famous and non-famous, are beat up by their husbands and boyfriends everyday. Is her story any less real because “she is Rihanna”?? I don’t think this is a PR stunt; I think its a statement that she has to make so that she can move on with her life and her career. People and the press have been talking about this since it happened 9 months ago, and if she doesn’t get out in front of the story now it will just continue to dog her. She said herself that five years from now, she doesn’t want to be thought of as “the one that go beat up by Chris Brown”. And if it gets her publicity, so what! If you want to blame someone for the publicity, blame Chris Brown. If he hadn’t beat the h*ll out of her, none of this would be happening.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:22:26 +0000

I am incredibly impressed by how brave Rhianna has been in this interview. She has my complete respect for the way she has addressed this so candidly, and for the reasons behind her actions. I would also like to third what Monica said about the timing.. that is obviously why she hasn’t spoken about it before and why she is talking about it now, I cannot see how anybody could see an ulterior motive in her addressing this now… to say things like that belittles what she has been through and is completely disrespectful and ignorant.

By: teri

teri — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:41:41 +0000

i too was amazed by the honest candor displayed by riri. i like her even more. if more people could be open and honest with their feelings the world would be a better place. it does not matter when one is abused when they speak up. everything happens for a reason and in the timing it is supposed to happen.

By: sarah54

sarah54 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:49:17 +0000

and of course she broke up with him

By: sarah54

sarah54 — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:47:24 +0000

Yesterday my best friend told me what happened to her just last week. her boyfriend was drunk and tried to choke her. i know her boyfriend and he is one of the nicest guys, but it still happened. she loved him; they were together for 2 years. but when i heard about what she went through, i was disgusted. she told me that rihanna’s interview helped her realize that she couldnt be with him no matter what. she still loves him and she didnt want to, but now she realizes what she needs to do. so honestly, i dont care whether Rihanna spoke out now, even if it was to promote her album. it helped my best friend knowing she wasnt the only one.

By: Joy

Joy — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 06:14:38 +0000

“I wouldn’t drop it and he couldn’t take that”

That really resonates with me.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 02:40:05 +0000

@Shyguy and anyone else who thinks she should’ve spoken up ASAP. Domestic violence is a hard thing to be the victim of let alone get past that denial of “Oh, I must’ve done SOMETHING wrong for them to hurt me so bad” and it takes time for the truth to come to you. That you didn’t do anything wrong and that the person who inflicted the violence was in the wrong.

I give her major credit for sorting out her life so she can make rational statements on national television instead of coming fresh out of the heat of the moment.

I know from experience that it’s a vicious cycle and this will scar her for the rest of her life. Don’t judge her for being brave enough to share her ordeal with everyone in the hopes that other women (or men!) will stand up for themselves and NOT fall victim to this horrid crime.

By: alex

alex — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:39:03 +0000

wow. seriously? y is there such a debate on this? its all celebrity gossip, and everyones oppinion. im glad she spoke. i mean the timing is whatever, she finally said something. and that was alot. i could imagine that it took alot of guts to speak out and publicly. she didnt have to but she did, she seamt pretty sincere. and thats it. who cares if shes trying to promote her album. im not gonna buy just because she said something. i think even if it is about that its not the big point. it can help someone or not. it can help her or not. either way she spoke out.

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:25:26 +0000

Maribella, shy guy, come on! Are you seriously not seeing the sense in some of the other commenters’ posts (like Monica)?

She was obviously going to have to either talk or not talk. Not talking at all would have been both cowardly (due to the good she could do by discussing domestic violence) and impracical (no matter what you tell journalists, many of them will push the topic). She did not want to talk about this terrible trauma before, and she had no professional need to talk to the press in any capacity, which you might have noticed SHE DID NOT. About *anything* at all, even though I’m sure her many sponsors would have loved some of her time.

I think this was a conscious decision, because as others have said, before starting press for her new album – again, BEFORE – she chose to address this delicate subject in the manner she herself saw fit. This way, she’s talked about it a little while after it happened – and hopefully it was slightly less painful to talk about it once a little time had passed. This way, she can really close the subject, tell journalists she’s said all she has to say on that specific incident, and get on with her promotion.

So yes, it is going to make news and remind people that Rihanna exists. She did not, as Trent said, promote her new musical offerings in the interview, but since it’s raising awareness of her, it will presumably help her career somewhat. What’s your point? Do you really see a better way for her to have handled the situation?

I actually think it’s a bit disgusting that people are wasting keystrokes ragging on Rihanna because she got beaten up, has an album to release, and you don’t agree with the consequences of those two facts coming together. Grow a pair and write a paragraph on something more worthwhile. Chris Brown, maybe?

By: Lexie

Lexie — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:22:32 +0000

it nearly makes me cry when she tells diana that she IS strong and it happened to her. i hope that she continues to grow and mature and live through this and eventually find happiness with someone who will love and respect her.

By: maribella

maribella — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:42:33 +0000

she would NOT be talking about this publicly.*

By: maribella

maribella — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:25:58 +0000

okay, let’s be honest. if rihanna was not “rihanna” she would be talking about this publicly. Trent, i agree that she should talk about her ordeal when she sees fit, but no one’s healing process includes a network interview with diane sawyer. this isn’t part of what she needs to do to move on, this is something horrible that happened that is being turned into a “positive” by her people only because it coincides with her album release.

By: Myriam

Myriam — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:49:24 +0000

this is all so sad, but the worst part in all this is that …she still loves him and it shows. and i wouldnt be surprised if in a couple years from now..they got back together.

By: Kate

Kate — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:45:21 +0000

Pr is the thing that make stars now. Stars have no talent they use pr agents to sell them.
They are exploiting this story to sell her album.
The hard sell is coming because she don’t have too many more chances since she is about broke.

By: meg

meg — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:39:10 +0000

@Shyguy I don’t agree with your statement that there is “no good time” to open up about domestic abuse. I think ANY TIME a victim chooses to speak out is the RIGHT time. There is no such thing as a wrong time or an inappropriate time, whether it is months or decades after the fact. In fact, many women keep silence their entire lives, further perpetuating the cycle. Being critical of those who are brave enough to speak out is only doing harm to the countless victims who choose to remain silent. Healing and grieving is a long, painful process and there is no right or wrong way to do it. This is RIHANNA’S experience (not yours, the not public’s), and she is choosing to cope with it in the way that is best for her.

By: lo

lo — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:25:56 +0000

Monica, I agree. She was able to just lay low for 9 months after this shitty thing happened. But now she’s got to get back into the public sphere because of her album and the subject is bound to come up, so she’s taking the bull by the horns. I applaud this incredibly strong young woman and hope other girls (and older women too) in the same situation can learn from her!

By: It's Trent, Bitch!

It's Trent, Bitch! — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:57:30 +0000

@Shyguy — You’re right she “could’ve” done a lot of things … but in the end she decided to go on national TV now to tell her story and warn others of the dangers of domestic violence … I, personally, do not care when she tells this story, no matter the circumstances … as long as one person who needs to hear her story hears it, it’s all worth it. No matter the criticism, cynicism and outright ignorant bullshit hurtled her way — any time an abuse survivor speaks out is the right time to speak out.

By: Monica

Monica — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:42:44 +0000

No but I used to work in PR so I know that besides just laying low after a trauma, she probably wasn’t doing any press these past months because she had nothing to promote. Now that she has an album coming out, press is part of the deal, so she probably tried to figure out the best way to address the situation. She could have just kept it to herself and told every interviewer that the topic was off limits but instead she chose to speak out. I don’t see how that’s a cheap ploy at all. Also, I am not even a fan of Rihanna’s music really but objectively speaking, I really don’t think she needs help selling records. She was crazy popular before this happened and if anything, this incident could have damaged her career and reputation so good for her for not letting that happen.

By: Shyguy

Shyguy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:36:01 +0000

Yes, because there was no elephant in the room the past 9 months. She could have talked about it any time before now, she could talk about it after her album comes out, or she can choose to never talk about it, and just keep it to her self. @Monica, are you her publicist? Are you sure its nothing more? It sounds like a PR stunt to help her sell records, because its coming out a few weeks before the album drops. Granted, there is “no good time” to really talk about it, because its so important/sensitive a subject, but talking about it now before the release of her album/singles just makes her lost a little credibility because it does look like a cheap ploy to exploit domestic abuse to sell albums

By: heather

heather — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:33:45 +0000

There is no protocol or handbook on how to react once you have become a victim of domestic violence. It is easy to judge the actions of others and say how you would handle things, but you never know until g-d forbid, you are that person, so for anyone to pass negative judgement on her is just bogus. Rhianna is an incredibly brave woman for sharing her story when in reality, it is nobody’s business but her own.

By: Monica

Monica — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:28:29 +0000

The reason she is addressing it now is because it’s the elephant in the room while she is promoting her new album. Why should her life have to stop because this happened to her? Should she put her career on hold or what? She was going to be asked this question in all these interviews anyway so better to take control of the situation and just address it herself. That’s what the timing was about – nothing more.

By: Monica

Monica — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:26:40 +0000

I am still amazed that anyone can see another side to this black and white issue. I am a firm believer in the gray area for most things but not when it comes to domestic violence. All women should use a ZERO tolerance policy – that’s just the bottom line. I applaud Rihanna so much for being brave and turning this incredibly painful ordeal into something positive for herself and for other young women who might look up to her.

I feel like a broken record sometimes but I keep freaking hearing people say that Rihanna “must have provoked him” or other insane stuff about how she’s just “trying to get back at him” and it is seriously making me insane. HE BEAT HER AND CHOKED HER AND BIT HER! That photo of her bloody and bruised and battered and ashamed and afraid was not fake! Even if it was only the one time, which I tend to doubt, it does not matter! Once is too many times!

I so worry for young girls out there if they really believe that kind of crap – that anything makes it okay for a man to do that to a woman. What is it that makes people want to take Chris Brown’s side? I just don’t get it. He should be grateful his ass isn’t in jail and just hole himself up somewhere out of sight rather than keep on trying to force this come back down our throats. Please listen to Rihanna girls! If he did it once, he’ll do it again. GET AWAY AND GET HELP NOW.

By: Shyguy

Shyguy — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 19:24:34 +0000

I agree with all your points, and I’m not being insensitive, Trent, I have seen tons of different abuse with friends, family and friends of friends, so I know its hard and its difficult. BUT, in true typical Hollywood fashion, she interviews 2 weeks before her album drops. For me it just seems convenient and it takes away from the importantness of the situtation, and just seems like a PR ploy. I don’t mean to be insensitive, and I’m sorry everyone if it came off that way, rereading it, it did seem cold, so again i apologize. i am just sickened at the thought of her possibly ONLY talking about it to get the buzz/promotion before her album comes out. That makes me hate hollywood and disgusts me that people use other people’s pain, misery and struggles for their own personal gain. I pray that Rihanna really did just need time to grow and heal and be strong enough to talk about it, and not because her people told her to wait until her album comes out to go on interviews talk about it. But, unfortunately, I don’t think its the former.