Domestic Violence Archives

Chris Brown released his latest CD "Graffiti" on Dec. 8

I have zero tolerance for domestic violence, and I feel like if people can't keep their hands to themselves that relationship needs to cease immediately. So with this attitude in mind, I really had a dilemma on my hands because I'd been a long-time fan of Chris Brown since his "Run It" days and bought all of his music. Was I going to boycott Chris Brown's new CD "Graffiti" because of the issues with Rihanna? Should I buy Rihanna's CD in support of her decision to speak up on "Good Morning America" even though I've never been a fan of her music? Or, should I buy Chris Brown's CD anyway as a supporter of his music but not his choices? I chose the last one.

Everyone seems to have opinions on whether Chris Brown was justified in the fight with Rihanna. Diehard fans swear up and down that Rihanna did something wrong and she deserved it. I think that statement is ridiculous. I don't care what a woman verbally says. Rihanna never deserved the butt whooping handed to her in February 2009. But I can't go so far as to say nobody deserves to be dealt with because it's not like I've never been in a fight. I can't even say I've never been in a fight with a guy because I have--once. It didn't last long though, but I can see how anger gets the best of a person and I didn't start that fight. (I didn't lose the fight either, by the way, but fighting is nothing to brag about. However, I never spoke to that guy again for the rest of my life.) I hear the accusations that Rihanna hit Chris Brown first, but we all know her strength does not compare to his. And then what if Rihanna didn't hit him at all, and Chris Brown just beat the living daylights out of her for the reasons in the police report?

I even thought about the accusations that if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. But I was frustrated by that belief because I know of two marriages with one partner who hit the other and then it never happened again, even years later. But to be fair, I have heard and known other couples who had one partner who was consistently abusive. Which category would Chris Brown fall in? Could he beat the odds?

In this publicity image released by ABC, Diane Sawyer, left, interviews singer Rihanna about her relationship with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown in New York. The interview aired on the morning program "Good Morning America," Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009, and will also air Friday on the prime time news program "20/20: Good Morning America". (AP Photo/ABC, Ida Mae Astute)

A week before Valentine's Day, R&B singer Chris Brown was being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department for assault on his then-girlfriend pop star Rihanna. After the February 8 notorious fight that put Rihanna in the hospital with a bruised face, an image of her face taken by LAPD was then posted on TMZ's Web site. Nine months later, Rihanna finally spoke out after Chris Brown had already issued a public apology on his Web site and gone on CNN's "Larry King Live." In the interview on ABC's "20/20: Good Morning America" on Nov. 6 at 9 pm, Rihanna talked about what a woman goes through after being physically abused.

The terms "Rihanna" and "Chris Brown" immediately became trending topics on Twitter.com, but another topic to hit the top of the trending topics was "#rihannasforehead." Rihanna had finally decided to talk to the public about how horrifying, embarrassing and personal this tragedy was between her and someone she was in love with, and Twitter users treated it like a joke with tweets like "While driving up #RihannasForehead, I had to fill up twice and got lost three times!" (1:53 am) and "Can #rihannasforehead compete with #tyrasforehead" (1:53 am). Some Twitter users were not amused by this trending topic, declaring "#rihannasforehead This is the most mean and hateful thing ever. You people have no hearts. Rihanna is beautiful inside and out" (1:53 am) and "I C #rihannasforehead is trending, wow, people can be so rude, how do you think she's gonna feel when she C's this." (1:52 am)