Art imitates life in Chris Brown’s new video for “Crawl,” which the embattled singer premiered today on The Wendy Williams Show. With lyrics like, “Everybody says we’re through/I hope you haven’t said it, too,” it’s easy to draw parallels to Brown’s infamous relationship with Rihanna, and the video makes it all the more obvious. Def Jam singer Cassie stars as the Rihanna stand-in, a.k.a., the famous ex-girlfriend who haunts Brown every time he sees her on television or on a red carpet.

The video for “Crawl,” which is the second single from Brown’s upcoming album Graffiti, also showcases Brown’s isolation and the icy public perception of him in the months following his February 8th altercation with Rihanna. In the video, cold breath exits Brown’s mouth when he sings, even though he sits in a sunny hotel room. Later, Brown crawls in the sand of a desolate desert. At one point in the video, Cassie and Brown come face to face in an alley, and while they seem like they’re on the verge of embrace, they instead draw back, which could be Brown’s commentary on the stay-away order that prevents Brown from being near Rihanna. (more…)

Rihanna’s first televised interview since her February 8th altercation with Chris Brown finally aired on Friday during the November 6th episode of 20/20. While excerpts of Rihanna’s conversation with Diane Sawyer appeared on Good Morning America earlier last week, the full 20/20 interview provided more details of the assault and its aftermath, including why Rihanna returned to Brown only three weeks after the incident and Rihanna’s reaction to the shocking leaked photograph of her battered face.

“I get very embarrassed, I feel humiliated. I get angry, all over again. Every time I see it, the whole thing plays back in my head,” Rihanna said of the leaked photograph that appeared on TMZ in the days following the assault. “It’s humiliating to see your face like that.” Rihanna also lashed out at those who said she must have provoked Brown in some way prior to the assault. “It’s ignorance,” Rihanna said, adding that at no point did she hit Brown. “Because even if I hit him first, that makes it okay for him to do that to me?”

Rihanna and Chris Brown’s Grammy Weekend: Photos of the days and hours before the infamous fight. (more…)

A second excerpt of Rihanna’s 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer aired this morning on Good Morning America, in which Rihanna finally reveals for the first time what happened inside of Chris Brown’s rented Lamborghini the night of February 8th. Prior to this interview, both stars have let their lawyers and police evidence do the talking; Brown has previously sidestepped the question, saying he wanted to respect Rihanna’s privacy.

Click to see GMA’s first interview with Rihanna.

Rihanna confirmed that the couple’s argument was sparked by a text message another woman sent to Brown. “I caught him in a lie and he wouldn’t tell the truth. I wouldn’t drop it. I couldn’t take that he kept lying to me and he couldn’t take that I wouldn’t drop it,” Rihanna said. “So it escalated into him being violent towards me and… it was ugly.” (more…)

Photo: Astute/ABC

Rihanna broke her silence and described how her relationship with Chris Brown turned violent in the first of two interviews with ABC News today on Good Morning America. “This happened to me and it could happen to anybody,” Rihanna told Diane Sawyer. “There’s a lot of women who experienced what I did, but not in the public. I just thought, ‘There goes my little bit of privacy.’ ” (Watch a clip of the GMA interview, after the jump.)

Rihanna and Chris Brown’s Grammy Weekend: Photos of the days and hours before the infamous fight.

According to Sawyer, Rihanna will describe precisely what happened on February 8th in Brown’s rented Lamborghini in the second part of the interview, which airs Friday night on 20/20. In tomorrow’s segment, Rihanna tells Sawyer, “That’s all I kept thinking about the whole time. When’s it going to stop, when’s it going to stop?” when asked about the assault.

This morning, Rihanna did discuss why she was “ashamed” by the incident, and why she remained silent in the weeks following Brown’s arrest. (more…)

Chris Brown headlined radio station Power 105.1’s Powerhouse ‘09 concert at New Jersey’s Izod Center last night, marking his first official concert since his February 8th altercation with Rihanna. After performances by The-Dream, Trey Songz, Fabolous, Mario, Keri Hilson and Day26, Brown’s live comeback arrived, and the “Forever” singer was greeted with loud applause, MTV reports.

Brown opened his set with new single “I Can Transform Ya,” emerging from his fleet of dancers as the crowd went wild (he debuted the track’s video earlier this week). The embattled star was cheered when he ventured to the front of the stage and received deafening shouts when he took off his “Beat It”-inspired jacket. The set featured roughly 10 songs, including hits “Wall to Wall,” “Take You Down” and “No Air.” Brown wrapped up the performance with the one song that even he admits helped keep his career afloat this past year: “Forever.” (more…)

In the wake of Chris Brown’s altercation with Rihanna earlier this year — an incident that led to the R&B star pleading guilty to assault and receiving a sentence of probation and community labor — Brown has insisted in interviews that he is a changed man. “I’ve seen the pain people have been through and I don’t want to inflict that anymore,” he recently said, speaking about the results of the anger-management classes he’s been taking.

Brown took the concept of change quite literally for the first single from Graffiti, his new album that’s due December 15th (Brown confirmed the release date via his Twitter; the LP comes just three weeks after Rihanna releases her new LP Rated R).
His “I Can Transform Ya” video — co-starring Lil Wayne and producer Swizz Beatz — which debuted this morning, is a play on the summer blockbuster Transformers. There’s lots of shape-shifting going on, with a flashy sports car morphing into Brown in the video’s opening shot. (more…)