Media Alert: Rihanna Goes One-One With 20/20′s Diane Sawyer
*Hat tip Carolinagirl The full interview airs tonight on ABC’s 20/20 at 10 p.m. EST. 9 p.m. CT.
Rihanna Decribes Dangerous Relationship With Chris Brown
‘It was a bit of an obsession almost,’ singer tells Diane Sawyer.
Rihanna spoke candidly to Diane Sawyer about falling in love with Chris Brown and the fallout of the February assault in her first sit-down interview since the incident. In the portions of the interview that aired Friday (November 6) on “Good Morning America,” the singer blamed the intensity of their relationship on the fact that they were best friends first. Read more here.
Rihanna Speaks Out On Assault, Brown Camp Fires Back
Rihanna says she decided to speak publicly about the incident as an example for others. “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.”
Following the preview of Rihanna’s interview on 20/20, Brown’s camp took to Twitter and accused Rihanna of lying and being a different person for the cameras. “I wish dancers can speak about things that really go on! Let me just say, Chris Brown was pushed to the extreme!” tweeted one of Brown’s dancers. “Shame on Rihanna,” tweeted a Brown confidant, while another accused Rihanna of trying to drum up publicity for her new album, posting: “Riri just needs away 2. Get her career back up.”
In related news, on the heels of first single “Russian Roulette” and a few album track leaks, Rihanna will be playing a concert sponsored by Nokia in London on Nov. 16, a week before the release of “Rated R” on Def Jam. The concert will be featured live on a free webcast at nowplaying.nokia.com. Read more here.
Word is Rihanna is doing the interview to get publicity for her new album. I’d like to view it as an act of deep humility, of incredible courage, and a way for her to heal and serve other young women.
I am interested in hearing Rihanna share her side of the abuse. Some folks didn’t think Rihanna would ever become the face of domestic abuse, but for whatever reason, by her sharing the experience, she just might save a life.
Updated-11-7-09 You can veiw the full 20/20 interview Parts 1-5 here.
View Comments
November 7th, 2009
Can I be superficial for a minute?
Homegirl's makeup was FLAWLESS! Imma go get me some Cover Girl right now!
But, uh-ruh, Imma need for her hairstylist to tighten up her weave 'cuz I saw some extensions at her roots.
That.is.all.
November 7th, 2009
Tell it!!!
November 7th, 2009
****DEAD*****
November 7th, 2009
Thank you, Val. In domestic violence, Silence becomes a KILLER.
November 7th, 2009
Val, you brought it. THANK YOU! Any woman watching Rihanna share her experience, and did not feel the raw emotion, the rage, sadness, shame, guilt, embarrassment, I dunno…
You can't fake what she delivered, and i just hope young girls were watching her last night.
I could give a rat's ass about her selling albums. We're talking about LIFE.
Like I said, I'm so glad Rihanna got to go before the camera and TELL IT.
November 7th, 2009
Um…well I was being REAL superficial last night watching this…and it was the eye makeup that got me. I had stuff to do this morning…and don't you know I pulled out me some shadow and tried to get that look?! lol…she was looking GOOD!!
November 7th, 2009
I agree Muzikal, just telling her side won't make some girl leave her situation. HowEVER…the way she expressed herself was not only real, but ACTIONABLE. She gave a woman in love a way to view her situation and it was very moving and relatable. She said, that she was unconditionally in love and that her love was so deep, she couldn't drag herself out of it. BUT, she said what she had to do was take a step back and look at it as though she was a THIRD party. She told women don't look at it through your love.
Look at it as though you NOT in love and ask yourself should you stay. I think that is powerful. Because most folks when they talk to abused women tell them it 'ain't love' when someone is abusing you. Rihanna doesn't say that. She says LOOK DEEPER than your love..look at it from the outside and ask yourself is it OK…that was a very insightful way of putting it and I believe it will help those women who are helplessly in love and who think they should go back based on their love. Rihanna said no.
Moreover, she said she still loves Chris, wants the best for him and that too would be affirming for women who are that deep in love that they are not looking out for themselves cause they so wrapped up in the love.
Rihanna, did an awesome job for a young woman barely out of her teens. The maturity she expressed was beyond her years, and it will have an impact on those who are seeing her as a ROLE MODEL. Perhaps, not on those who don't…but for those who DO and they ARE in that situation, Rihanna gave them reason to move on…AND at the same time STILL love the person!
Rihanna did wonnnnderful!
November 7th, 2009
LOL! So, LRW, did you get the look? WEE would appreciate your insights on the interview. Thanks!
November 7th, 2009
side eye of death
November 7th, 2009
Hmmm, one could draw the conclusion that if you are the perpetrator then you buy the music, but if you 'act like a victim' you got issues with them?
Now, I bet that is not what you meant, but that IS how you sound.
Point being, I would buy Rihanna's music and NEVER EVER NEVER buy R. Kelley!!! EVER.
November 7th, 2009
The problem is ain't nobody puttin pressure on Chris to be a ROLE MODEL for anything.
Rihanna got a double whammy, she is the victim..she is embarassed and humiliated YET folks expect her to step up to the plate and be a role model for other abused women.
That is a heavy mantle for a young barely 20 year old woman.
Maybe, if folks were asking Chris to be a role model, he TOO would be giving interviews…but folks are just giving him the SEOD.
November 7th, 2009
Exactly Shanti!!
This is not about the music. Music is what made them celebrities but life is what made this scandalous!
Folks that may never have a hit record can be impact by their actions in daily life.
This ain't about no music.
November 7th, 2009
Beautifully articulated, LaRapierWit. Thank you.
November 7th, 2009
“We're never going to know ALL of the circumstances that led up to that night,”
Um, sorry..Rihanna made it very clear…she said he got a text, he gave a lame ass excuse…and she didn't believe it and WOULDN't LET IT GO!! He wouldn't admit and she WOULDN't LET it GO!!
Any woman that has ever been with a man and thought they were in a monogamous relationship..GOT THAT!
Negro, was caught DEAD WRONG and rather than FESS Up and admit that wrong he starts getting loud and defensive, and instead of the woman backing down…she goes for BLOOD verbally!! And every woman on the face of the earth, knows a man can't out talk a woman and that words slice deep, fast and hard…He can't THINK fast as she was cutting his ass to smithereens, and since he could not outTALK her, he resorted to violence..to shut her up…cause that is how a man deals with ANOTHER MAN. Punches his ass out when he says some shyt he don't like or that he feels disrespects him…ONLY when it is a woman HE can't do that. Most men have enough discipline to know that, others are so mentally and emotionally weak that they BEAT HER…simply to WIN…cause it is ALL about POWER!!
And when she is winning the war of words, he is powerless…so KAPOW is what weak men do. KAPOW is what men who don't want to own up to their actions do!
Which is why abused women go back repeatedly, they KNOW they pushed his buttons and 9 times out of 10 they pushed them DELIBERATLY…not to say there aren't men, who beat and bully just cause they can..cause there are those to…where she don't have to do a damn thing…but in this case we know…RIHANNA said ” I wouldn't let it go”
Good for her!!
November 7th, 2009
Carolina, I did not get the sense that Rihanna was done with Chris…cause she said something about God's plan and God's will. Rihanna deeply in love with Chris…it is the public spotlight that is forcing her to verbally say she is moving on, not her heart. I would not be surprised at all if they wind up back together AND married.
November 7th, 2009
OMG! A cougar!!!
November 7th, 2009
I agree that she showed tremendous maturity. But I don't think she feels that EFF love yet…that is anger…and that anger is hiding the depth of her emotional attachment. Rihanna, got a long way to go to get out of this…and if he was her first real love…she is looking at decades of not succumbing to those emotions.
TinaTurner's jam…What's Love Got to Do with it…needs to be her mantra…and she needs to have Oprah hook her and Tina up so she can hear some truth from a mature woman who has been there and done that…while living her lifestyle.
November 7th, 2009
Shanti, this was the part of the interview I believed least. You know it is just like being fat and wanting to lose weight. You don't lose weight for other people ..you have to do it forself. Which is why I think Rihanna will be back with Chris. She did not really give any reason that would make her do it, other than shame…and shame don't bring change.
You don't leave the man you love, to be a role model for others, either.
November 7th, 2009
that was the saddest and most telling part. Children model what they learn. And unfortunately, just like they say, couples feed off one another. An abuser needs an abused person…and in that since they fit like hand and glove…he learned to abuse..and she learned to accept abuse.
These two got a long ass way to go to have a healthy relationship…cause they feed off of their emotional dysfunction..and that emotional dysfunction unfortuantely is what each of them identify with as LOVE…her momma took it and his momma did too.
And for both of them that was formative love lessons.
This is why I get so outraged about what children learn early in life. If they grow up with deviant circumstances no matter what, it is what they believe is true love.
One of the saddest facts I ever learned was that 90% of child abusers are abused children….all because they identify it with love.
November 7th, 2009
I thought they said she had the most top ten songs in this decade. Did she have the most sold albums, too?
November 7th, 2009
Well, if I have to say so myself…YES, I did!! I received lots of compliments today!
November 7th, 2009
Check your email. Thanks.
November 7th, 2009
“And when she is winning the war of words, he is powerless…so KAPOW is what weak men do. KAPOW is what men who don't want to own up to their actions do! “
BREAK IT DOWN, LRW!
November 7th, 2009
I'll have to do a repeat on the interview. I thought I heard Rihanna say she realized that she had to save herself first, that she had a lot to live for and accomplsih. I heard and felt the shame, but I heard the strength for her to take the next step forward…
November 7th, 2009
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rihanna
November 8th, 2009
“Rihanna has attained five Hot 100 number one singles, becoming the first of two female artists with the most number ones attained within the 2000s….Rihanna's third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), peaking at number two on the Billboard 200, featured five top ten hits “
See that was what I heard…most top ten singles..not albums..
thanks for the link!
November 8th, 2009
I agree with you about hearing the strength. Only thing is..from what I heard her strength was based in her shame…and knowing that shame don't bring shame…I just doubt that she is stronger than the love in her heart for Chris..is all I am saying.
You know Shanti, it is kinda like a woman being strong enough to lose weight cause she knows that is what her man likes…but she is only doing it not to feel the shame of him calling her fat…and soon as she sheds those pounds she is back in his arms.
Soon as Rihanna figures out how to deal with this shame…I believe she will be back in Chris' arms…I hope I am wrong…but that is what I hear from what she is saying.
She still in love…but she is hurting from shame..not pain.