Rihanna Talks To Glamour About Chris Brown Assault

Rihanna is finally opening up about the physical abuse she suffered by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown in an interview with Glamour magazine. They interviewed Rihanna for their annual Women Of The Year issue, ostensibly to speak up for domestic violence survivors, which is a brave move for her to make. But honestly? Rihanna’s statement is of the “no, duh” variety and sounds like it was written/watered down by PR folks and lawyers.

“Domestic violence is a big secret. No kid goes around and lets people know their parents fight. Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beat them up. You don’t dare let your neighbor know that you fight. It’s one of the things we [women] will hide, because it’s embarrassing. My story was broadcast all over the world for people to see, and 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.”

That’s great RiRi, but tell your fans something they don’t know? Wouldn’t it have been awesome if she had said, “Chris never should have hit me.” Or, “If a man hits you, you need to leave immediately.” Or, “People who love you don’t hit you.” More strongly worded sound bites like that would’ve zinged around the blogs and gossip magazines and helped more people.

What Rihanna does speak up strongly about, though? How awful she felt when two cops allegedly leaked a shocking photo of her beaten-and-bruised face to the press:

Glamour: Let’s talk about this past year—you’ve obviously been through some difficult things. How did the people around you help you cope?

Rihanna: My friends and family have been extremely supportive, and everyone has been there for me. But at some point you are there alone. It’s a lonely place to be—no one can understand. That’s when you get close to God.

Glamour: Are you referring to the [Chris Brown] incident?

Rihanna: I am talking about starting with the night [before] the Grammys and then on. That was not the only thing that occurred this year. The picture leaking … it was one thing after another.

Glamour: You’re talking about the photo [reportedly of Rihanna’s injured face taken by police after Brown assaulted her] that was allegedly leaked by cops. You handled that so well; you kept silent in the press.

Rihanna: It was humiliating; that is not a photo you would show to anybody. I felt completely taken advantage of. I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it’s my life. I was disappointed, especially when I found out the photo was [supposedly leaked by] two women.

RiRi also shared some interesting gossip about how record company execs have managed her, especially so far as her image was concerned. When her career was just blasting off, she divulged, her makeup and even her hairstyles were tightly controlled. She dished:

“In the first two years of my career, there were a lot of restraints on what I could do. I couldn’t wear certain colors of lipstick, like bright pink, dark pink or red; [my lips] had to be natural. Eventually, I stopped communicating with certain people at the label, and did exactly what I wanted to do. And that was to cut my hair, dye it black, change my clothes, change my sound. Really to just express myself.”

Man, her handlers controlled what color lipstick she could wear in public? It kind of makes you understand how she was in a relationship with a controlling, physically abusive guy, doesn’t it?

There’s one last piece of Chris Brown gossip that Rihanna does share with the magazine, though: she was never in love with Chris Brown. When Glamour asked her if it’s too early for this 21-year-old to think about starting a family, she replies rather candidly:

“I hope I find love in the next 10 years—that will be pretty annoying if I am 31 and still have never been in love!”

Ha. Take that, Chris Brown. [Glamour]