Rihanna: I Won't Apologize for Reconnecting With Chris Brown

Rihanna attends the 'Battleship' press conference on the U.S.S. George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan.

Rihanna has opened up to Elle about her fans' response to her reconnecting with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown despite his conviction for assaulting her back in 2009. "It's very hard for me to accept, but I get it," she told the fashion magazine. "People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that's all right. I don't hate them for it." She says she is unwilling to apologize for her decision because "tomorrow I'm still going to be the same person. I'm still going to do what I want to do."

The singer says her experience following Brown's attack before the Grammys three years ago was essential to making her the woman she is today. "It gave me guns," she says of the incident. "I was like, well, fuck. They know more about me than I want them to know. It's embarrassing. But that was my opening. That was my liberation, my moment of 'bring it.' I wanted people to know who I am. Whatever they take that to be, good or bad, I just want them to know the truth.

"I have more freedom the more people know about me," says Rihanna. "It's like, one less skeleton in the closet, one less burden, one less secret; now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don't have anything to hide."

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Rihanna: I Won't Apologize for Reconnecting With Chris Brown

Rihanna attends the 'Battleship' press conference on the U.S.S. George Washington in Yokosuka, Japan.

Rihanna has opened up to Elle about her fans' response to her reconnecting with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown despite his conviction for assaulting her back in 2009. "It's very hard for me to accept, but I get it," she told the fashion magazine. "People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that's all right. I don't hate them for it." She says she is unwilling to apologize for her decision because "tomorrow I'm still going to be the same person. I'm still going to do what I want to do."

The singer says her experience following Brown's attack before the Grammys three years ago was essential to making her the woman she is today. "It gave me guns," she says of the incident. "I was like, well, fuck. They know more about me than I want them to know. It's embarrassing. But that was my opening. That was my liberation, my moment of 'bring it.' I wanted people to know who I am. Whatever they take that to be, good or bad, I just want them to know the truth.

"I have more freedom the more people know about me," says Rihanna. "It's like, one less skeleton in the closet, one less burden, one less secret; now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don't have anything to hide."

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BRIT Awards Organizers Apologize to Adele

Adele accepts the Best Album award during the BRIT Awards in London.

The producers of the BRIT Awards have issued an apology to Adele, whose acceptance speech for the Album of the Year award was cut short to make time for a closing performance by Blur. Adele, frustrated in the moment, raised her middle finger to the cameras as she was forced off the stage. The singer later clarified that the middle finger was directed at "the suits at the BRIT Awards," and not her legion of fans.

"We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short this evening due to the live show over-running," said a statement from BRIT Awards organizers. "We don't want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night's biggest award. It tops off what's been an incredible year for her."

You can watch a clip of Adele's brief acceptance speech below.

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BRIT Awards Organizers Apologize to Adele

Adele accepts the Best Album award during the BRIT Awards in London.

The producers of the BRIT Awards have issued an apology to Adele, whose acceptance speech for the Album of the Year award was cut short to make time for a closing performance by Blur. Adele, frustrated in the moment, raised her middle finger to the cameras as she was forced off the stage. The singer later clarified that the middle finger was directed at "the suits at the BRIT Awards," and not her legion of fans.

"We regret this happened and we send our deepest apologies to Adele that her big moment was cut short this evening due to the live show over-running," said a statement from BRIT Awards organizers. "We don't want this to undermine her incredible achievement in winning our night's biggest award. It tops off what's been an incredible year for her."

You can watch a clip of Adele's brief acceptance speech below.

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NFL, NBC Apologize for M.I.A. Flipping Middle Finger at Halftime Show

M.I.A. gives 'the finger' to the camera during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

NBC has apologized for airing footage of M.I.A. flipping off the cameras while delivering the line "I don't give a shit" during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show. "The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers."

The NFL have also issued an apology for the incident, but placed the blame on NBC's censors. "There was a failure in NBC's delay system," spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans." According to McCarthy, M.I.A. did not use the gesture in dress rehearsals for the show.

M.I.A., a well-known provocateur, has not yet commented on her performance or its aftermath. The rapper did not fully enunciate the word "shit" at the end of the verse, which keeps her – and the NBC and NFL – in the clear in terms of avoiding a fine from the FCC for inappropriate language.

You can watch a brief clip of M.I.A.'s middle finger moment below.

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NFL, NBC Apologize for M.I.A. Flipping Middle Finger at Halftime Show

M.I.A. gives 'the finger' to the camera during the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLVI Halftime Show at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

NBC has apologized for airing footage of M.I.A. flipping off the cameras while delivering the line "I don't give a shit" during Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show. "The NFL hired the talent and produced the halftime show," NBC said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter. "Our system was late to obscure the inappropriate gesture and we apologize to our viewers."

The NFL have also issued an apology for the incident, but placed the blame on NBC's censors. "There was a failure in NBC's delay system," spokesman Brian McCarthy said in a statement. "The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologize to our fans." According to McCarthy, M.I.A. did not use the gesture in dress rehearsals for the show.

M.I.A., a well-known provocateur, has not yet commented on her performance or its aftermath. The rapper did not fully enunciate the word "shit" at the end of the verse, which keeps her – and the NBC and NFL – in the clear in terms of avoiding a fine from the FCC for inappropriate language.

You can watch a brief clip of M.I.A.'s middle finger moment below.

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

Amazon MP3 Download Center

Read more »