Rihanna, like so many people who have experienced domestic abuse, thought she could change her ex-boyfriend, Chris Brown.
In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the “American Oxygen” singer said that’s why she let Chris back into her life after he assaulted her (and pled guilty to felony assault) in 2009.
“I was that girl,” Rihanna told the mag of her brief reconciliation with Chris three years after the assault. “That girl who felt that as much pain as this relationship is, maybe some people are built stronger than others. Maybe I’m one of those people built to handle s**t like this.
“Maybe I’m the person who’s almost the guardian angel to this person, to be there when they’re not strong enough, when they’re not understanding the world, when they just need someone to encourage them in a positive way and say the right thing,” she continued.
Rih said she felt at the time that Chris was misunderstood and believed she could help him.
“I was very protective of him,” she said. “I felt that people didn’t understand him. Even after … But you know, you realize after a while that in that situation you’re the enemy.”
Despite their painful history, Rihanna said she doesn’t “hate him.”
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“I will care about him until the day I die. We’re not friends, but it’s not like we’re enemies,” she told the mag. “We don’t have much of a relationship now.”
Moving forward, Rih said the kind of man she wants (strong, caring, respectful) is hard to find — but she won’t settle for less.
“They think being a real man is actually being a p***y, that if you take a chair out for a lady, or you’re nice or even affectionate to your girl in front of your boys, you’re less of a man. It’s so sick,” she said. “They won’t be a gentleman because that makes them appear soft. That’s what we’re dealing with now, a hundred percent, and girls are settling for that, but I won’t.
“I will wait forever if I have to… but that’s OK,” she continued. “You have to be screwed over enough times to know, but now I’m hoping for more than these guys can actually give.”
Read the full interview with Rihanna when Vanity Fair hits newsstands on October 13.
— Erin O’Sullivan
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