Rihanna isn’t going to apologize for reconciling with her violent ex-boyfriend, said April Long in Elle. The R&B star broke up with singer Chris Brown three years ago, after he viciously beat her and left her bruised, bloody, and unconscious on the side of a Los Angeles road. The couple reconnected earlier this year and collaborated on two new singles, to the dismay of many fans and critics. “People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that’s all right. I don’t hate them for it,” says the 24-year-old. “Because tomorrow I’m still going to be the same person. I’m still going to do what I want to do.” Rihanna says that her defiance stems from the media storm that followed her 2009 assault. “I was angry, sad, torn [after the attack]. I was still in love. And I needed to talk about it,” she says. “It gave me guns. I was like, f---, [people] know more about me than I want them to know. But that was my liberation. I wanted people to know who I am. Whatever they take that to be, good or bad, I just want them to know the truth.”
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