Image courtesy of the Examiner
The singer appears stronger but still shaken in her first in-depth interview after the incident, which left her bruised and bloody, and the subject of much public speculation.
She also tells Sawyer that seeing how much the young girls who look up to her were affected by her going back to Brown was “a wake up call.”
She has a new message for them: “I will say to any young girl who is going through domestic violence, don’t react off of love. F love. Come out of the situation and look at it third person for what it really is, and then make your decision, because love is so blind.”
In Rihanna’s case, love was particularly blind because Brown was her first love, giving her very little context to understand that his behavior was far from loving. Talking about her humiliation after the abuse was exposed, the singer admits, “That’s embarrassing. That’s the type of person I fell in love with... so far in love, so unconditional that I went back.”
Still, while she might be embarrassed by initially going back to the man that beat her, the singer has clearly done her research on abusive relationships, gaining perspective and resolve. When Sawyer reminds her that it takes a woman an average of seven tries to successfully leave an abuser, Rihanna is quick to point out. "Eight or nine, actually. And I don't want that to happen."
The interview airs in full on Friday on ABC’s 20/20.
