On Thursday, singer Rihanna spoke a bit about the assault she endured at the hands of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and then on Friday, she spoke a bit more. Last night on 20/20, Rihanna told her entire story to Diane Sawyer and the 8.2 million folks watching on TV … her story is a harrowing one … but also a brave one. Here are a few screencaps from her powerful interview and some excerpts from her 20/20 interview:

In a tremendously moving and articulate interview with 20/20, Rihanna gave her first full-length statements about her assault by Chris Brown in February. Describing the beating she suffered in a car with Brown, the singer said that when he beat her, “He had no soul in his eyes… It was almost like he had nothing to lose.” Speaking to Diane Sawyer, Rihanna said of Brown’s remorse afterward, “He’d say, ‘You hate me, don’t you?’ and I would lie and say, ‘No.’” That was a chilling moment, one among many. Sawyer showed Rihanna online videos of people — fans? — saying that she must have provoked Brown. Sawyer paraphrased their sentiments: “They say, ‘Did she bait him? Rile him?’” Rihanna said bluntly of such questions, “It’s ignorance.” Demonstrating a maturity and thoughtfulness about her experience, Rihanna noted, “With fame comes a lot of things, and the most dangerous is freedom… no boundaries.” At the same time, she said that when she’s shown the pictures of her battered face from that night, “I get very ashamed, angry… embarrassed… You start lying to yourself, blaming yourself… I didn’t want people looking at me. I felt really lonely.” She claimed never to have heard the song Brown supposedly recorded for her called “Changed Man.” When Sawyer showed her the internet apology Brown issued and asked the singer’s reaction, Rihanna said simply, “It sounds like he might be reading off a teleprompter… I don’t know if he understood the extent of what he did.” Rihanna explained the fight’s source: ”I caught him in a lie,” when she saw a text message from another woman. “I wouldn’t drop it, and he couldn’t take that.” She described their love as “dangerous… It was a bit of an obsession.” The awful pressure that is placed upon celebrities to be role models was made clear when she said, “My selfish desire for love could result in some young girl getting killed. I could not be easy with that, responsible for that.” How terrible that this woman should have to bear that weight in addition to what happened to her. That’s one of the biggest flaws of current pop culture — the notion that celebrities must set an example for others. Rihanna went so far as to say to Sawyer, “I’m glad it happened to me, because now I can help young girls when it happens to them.” Sawyer asked if she “hated” Brown. She replied, “I want him to do well, to have a good career… and to grow up.”

I cannot even express how impressed I was with Rihanna’s interview last night … she was thoughtful, sure, honest and bold in her statements. You could tell how uncomfortable she was talking about certain aspects of her ordeal but you could also tell how confident she was that she was doing the right thing. I am so glad that ABC decided to air portions of Rihanna’s interview over two days and one night … the wider her story is spread, the more likely that her message will reach those who desperately need to hear it. After the jump, watch Rihanna’s entire 20/20 interview online …

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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 …

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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 …

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Yesterday we got our first look at Rihanna on the cover and in the pages of the new issue of Glamour magazine wherein she opened up for the first time about being physically assaulted by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown and today we get our first look at Rihanna’s first television interview about that very same incident. Good Morning America, helmed by Diane Sawyer, sat down with Rihanna recently to do an interview set for air tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday morning on 20/20 on Friday night. Here is a screencap from Diane’s interview with Rihanna and some info about their chat:

A written excerpt of Rihanna telling her side of story regarding the domestic violence done by her then-boyfriend Chris Brown has been unveiled. Sporting a new hairstyle, the Barbadian singer will do a one-on-one interview with Diane Sawyer on “Good Morning America” this Thursday, November 5. “This happened to me. … It can happen to anyone,” Rihanna said in answer to one of Sawyer’s questions. She later on admitted that Chris was indeed her “first big love”, the fact that made the whole coping up situation difficult. The interview will also be aired as part of news magazine, “20/20″ on Friday night. This would be the first time for Rihanna to talk about the battery case on national television. Chris has come forward first on “Larry King Live” to address the incident including why he was violent and what was his reaction upon seeing Rihanna’s bloody picture that was leaked few days after the February case. Rihanna will make a return to “Good Morning America” on November 23 for a performance that celebrates the release of her latest album “Rated R” that day. But she will first debut her new music video for the single “Wait Your Turn” on “20/20″ on Tuesday, November 3.

Well, actually, Rihanna already debuted her music video for Wait Your Turn (The Wait Is Ova) online cuz we got to see it in full yesterday. I am very curious to see these interviews with Rihanna … it’s one thing to read what she has to say but quite another to hear her speak. I will deffo be tuning in to watch her on both Good Morning America and 20/20. It cannot be easy to talk about issues of domestic abuse on such a public stage … I do hope that her message that it could happen to anyone will resonate with other people out there in her same situation.

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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 …

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A couple weeks ago we got our first listen of Rihanna’s new single Russian Roulette (the first single from her new album titled Rated R) but shortly after that song was released to radio, we learned that she was already prepping the release of a second single. Today Rihanna released a music video for that second single titled Wait Your Turn (The Wait is Ova) on her official website … here are a few screencaps from this new video:

The video is not bad … the song is another slow jam but I like it much better than Russian Roulette. Check it out after the jump and judge for yourselves …

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Last week we got our first look at the cover artwork for Rihanna’s new single Russian Roulette, the first from her new album Rated R due out on November 23. Today, courtesy of PopEater, we get our first look at the album cover artwork for Rated R itself … behold:

You’ve probably seen Rihanna’s racy single cover, and now PopEater is proud to exclusively premiere the cover for her impending album, ‘Rated R.’ The grainy black-and-white cover shows the R&B queen draped in hand jewelry and covering one eye. The album, which is set to be released on Monday, Nov. 23, is Rihanna’s first album since 2007’s ‘Good Girl Gone Bad.’ It is also Rihanna’s first album since she was assaulted by boyfriend Chris Brown in February. The ‘Rated R’ cover was shot by famed photographer Ellen von Unwerth, who says that “Rihanna was looking to create something a bit new for the look of the album.” Von Unwerth goes on to say that Rihanna is “so beautiful, sweet and tough at the same time — and a pleasure to shoot,” adding that she’s “fantastic to work with — very giving, very creative, very involved in every aspect of the shoot, and ready to push the boundaries.”

As far as album covers go, this is one ain’t too shabby. The look of the photo reminds me of the photospread Ri Ri did for Italian Vogue over the Summer. To be honest, I expected the album artwork to be more racy … I like that it’s kinda understated. I’m SO dying to hear this album tho … the photos are nice and all but it’s all about the music. I can’t wait to hear more from Rated R. As far as the coverphoto goes, tho, what do y’all think … do you like?

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