Rihanna Tells Vanity Fair She Thought She Could Change Chris Brown

R&B singer Rihanna says she got back with her abusive ex, Chris Brown, because she thought she could change him.

Rihanna, who briefly reunited with the hip-hop artist three years after he assaulted her in 2009, was "that girl" who saw herself as a "guardian angel" to her troubled beau, she told Vanity Fair in its November cover story.

"I was very protective of him," she said. "I felt that people didn't understand him."

The Barbadian singer, 27, added that she grew to feel like the enemy in their rekindled relationship — someone who reminded the 26-year-old Brown of his previous shortcomings.

"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," she said. "Because they know you don't deserve what they're going to give."

Brown's probation for his 2009 assault charges ended in March.

The two "don't have much of a relationship now," but that hasn't stopped the specter of domestic violence from trailing Rihanna more than six years later.

The "B---- Better Have My Money" singer said she still feels "punished" for her own past, particularly when CBS pulled her song "Run This Town" from a 2014 NFL broadcast in the wake of running back Ray Rice's domestic abuse scandal.

"It's in the past, and I don't want to say 'Get over it,' because it's a very serious thing that is still relevant; it's still real," she said.

"But, for me, and anyone who's been a victim of domestic abuse, nobody wants to even remember it. Nobody even wants to admit it," she continued. "So to talk about it and say it once, much less 200 times, is like … I have to be punished for it? It didn't sit well with me."

Though she has since been romantically linked to musician Drake, Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and most recently rapper Travi$ Scott, Rihanna told Vanity Fair that Brown was her last official boyfriend. Life in the paparazzi spotlight has made her skittish and "guarded" about dating or even having casual sex, she said.

"I mean I get horny, I'm human, I'm a woman, I want to have sex," she said. "But what am I going to do — just find the first random cute dude that I think is going to be a great ride for the night and then tomorrow I wake up feeling empty and hollow?"

"I can't do it to myself," added the singer. "It has a little bit to do with fame and a lot to do with the woman that I am. And that saves me."

Rihanna has an opinion few have publicly expressed since a scandal brought down a NAACP leader accused of lying about her race.

The singer is supporting Rachel Dolezal for a wildfire of conversation she ignited about racial perceptions, she said in an interview for Vanity Fair’s latest cover.

“I think she was a bit of a hero, because she kind of flipped on society a little bit. Is it such a horrible thing that she pretended to be black?” 27-year-old Rihanna explained.

Dolezal resigned from her position with NAACP only to lose her jobs with the city of Spokane and Eastern Washington University after damning reports outed her as a white woman.

She had been teaching Africana studies with a seat on the city's Police Ombudsman Commission.

Her new champion, the Barbados-born artist, graced the magazine’s November issue with stunning red hair in sultry shots by Annie Leibovitz, posed in Cuba’s peeling vintage interiors and vibrant exteriors.


Rihanna’s brief statement on Dolezal comes just months after the magazine tracked down the Spokane woman for its July issue when she most famously defended her life living as a black woman.

“It’s not a costume,” Dolezal famously said.

Rihanna backed Dolezal in a private room at Giorgio Baldi in Los Angeles.

“Black is a great thing, and I think she legit changed people’s perspective a bit and woke people up,” Rihanna added.

SOURCE