For Millennials. By Millennials.
If you are a Rihanna fan, you may have a dislike of her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. The two had a very intense relationship that ended up in Rihanna suffering from an assault. But now it seems like Chris and Rihanna have now made up. As per the ‘Umbrella’ singer, she is now great friends with him and claims that she loves him.
The tumultuous relationship Rihanna and Chris Brown had
Rihanna and Chris Brown started dating in 2008 and they were passionately and insanely in love with each other. However, things took a turn for the worst when one night in 2009, the couple got into a brutal fight. Chris Brown ended up bruising and injuring Rihanna to such a degree that she needed to go to the hospital. Rihanna even got a restraining order against him. Meanwhile, Chris Brown pleaded guilty to the physical assault charges and served 5 years on probation and 180 days in community service. The rapper also attended domestic violence counseling.
Rihanna has also opened up about how the assault affected her:
“I was hurt the most. Nobody felt what I felt. It happened to me in front of the world. It was embarrassing, it was humiliating, it was hurtful. It’s not easy. I lost my best friend. Everything I knew switched. Switched in a night.”
Fast forward a couple of years later to 2012, and Rihanna and Chris Brown date each other again. They also collaborated on two songs together during this time. But the relationship didn’t do well again, but there was no hint of domestic assault this time. Brown shared this regarding their breakup:
“I mean, at the end of the day, shawty doing her own thang, she on the road. It’s always gonna be love. I’m a grown man, just gotta fast forward.”
Rihanna also had only kind words to say about Chris Brown:
“I was very protective of him. I felt that people didn’t understand him. But you know, you realize after a while that in that situation you’re the enemy. You want the best for them, but if you remind them of their failures, or if you remind them of bad moments in their life, or even if you say, ‘I’m willing to put up with something,’ they think less of you — because they know you don’t deserve what they’re going to give.”
A documentary on Chris Brown’s life, ‘Welcome to My Life’, arrived in 2017 where his relationship with Rihanna was discussed too. He shared the aftermath of their huge fight in 2009 that led to physical assault:
“My trust was totally lost with her, she hated me after that. I tried everything, she didn’t care. She just didn’t trust me after that. From there, it just went downhill because there were too many verbal fights, physical fights as well. Mutual sides. It is the first time I get to say anything. We would fight each other. She would hit me, I would hit her and it never was OK.”
Related: Video shows Lizzo asking Chris Brown for picture, saying he’s her “favorite person in the world”
Chris Brown and Rihanna still managed to become friends who care for each other
It’s often rare to see people with such a difficult history to become friends with each other but that is what happened with Chris and Rihanna. In 2018, an anonymous source told ‘Us’ Magazine that the two are still good friends and frequently talk to each other. Moreover, Chris Brown also posted a rather interesting birthday wish to the ‘Princess of China’ singer.
During May of that year, Rihanna did call out Snapchat for not treating domestic abuse as a serious issue and making a joke about her situation with Chris Brown. They posted pictures of the music artists and asked the audience if they would rather ‘slap Rihanna’ or ‘punch Chris Brown’. Even though she is friends with Chris now, Rihanna still didn’t understand Snapchat for not understanding the gravity of her physical assault:
“Now SNAPCHAT I know you already know you ain’t my fav app out there! But I’m just trying to figure out what the point was with this mess! I’d love to call it ignorance, but I know you ain’t that dumb!”
Then in November 2018, there were another revelation that two are still close friends with each other. After this, Chris Brown posted a flirty comment on Rihanna’s topless Instagram picture.
However, the source shared that:
“They are extremely supportive of each other’s projects. There is a lot of history between the two of them. Rihanna is aware that there will be concern about her friendship with Chris, but she can handle herself.”
Rihanna shares that she’ll always love Chris Brown
In a resurfaced interview of Rihanna on Oprah, the singer shared some deep feelings about herself. Regarding the friendship with Brown, she shared:
“We’ve been working on our friendship again. Now we’re very, very close friends. We’ve built up a trust again… We love each other and we probably always will. And that’s not something we’re ever going to change. That’s not something you can shut off if you’ve ever been in love.”
The ‘Diamonds’ singer also declared that Chris was the first love of her life and that’s why she’ll always feel have a deep care for him:
“I think he was the love of my life. He was the first love. And I see that he loved me the same way… it’s not even about us being together. I truly love him. So the main thing for me is that he is at peace. I’m not at peace if he’s a little unhappy, or he’s still lonely.”
If you or someone you know are suffering from domestic abuse, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotlines 1−800−799−SAFE(7233) or TTY 1−800−787−3224 or (206) 518-9361 (Video Phone Only for Deaf Callers). You can also visit their website here.
