 Rihanna speaks out in her interview with Diane Sawyer on 'Good Morning America' on Thursday (November 5) (Photo: ABC) In her first televised interview since her altercation with Chris Brown in February, Rihanna admitted that she regrets going back to her ex after he left her bloodied and bruised.
She says she was in love, and she's speaking out now to warn other women facing domestic violence to not let love blind you.
"It's completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself," 21-year-old singer Rihanna told Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" on Thursday (November 5). "I'll say that to any young girl who is going through domestic violence: 'Don't react off of love.'"
In the ABC special interview, the singer said she is no longer with Brown, and was ashamed to go back to him following the attack.
"That's embarrassing -- that's the type of person I fell in love with. So far in love, so unconditional, that I went back,"RiRi said. "That's not what I want to teach people."
(Watch a clip of the interview here  )
In February, Brown was arrested after being accused of beating Rihanna following a pre-Grammy Awards party in Los Angeles. A photo of Rihanna's battered face circulated on the Internet shortly after. The leak embarrassed her, she recently admitted in an interview with Glamour magazine.
"I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it's my life," she said.
Brown later pleaded guilty to felony assault, and the couple has been ordered to stay away from each other.
As the ABC interview went on, Rihanna said she never realized the type of impact she had on young womens' lives, and how her decision to return to Brown sent the wrong message.
"When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be held responsible for telling them, 'Go back,'" she said.
"I didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls' lives until that happened," Rihanna added. "It was a wake-up call for me, big time, especially when I took myself out of the situation."
Now, she does want to send the right message, which is: "This can happen to me and it can happen to anybody."
ABC will air more of the interview during Friday's "Good Morning America" (November 6) and then Friday evening on "20/20."
Brown is also set to give his perspective in an interview to air Friday on MTV.
Rihanna's interview comes as she gears up for her upcoming album, Rated R. So far, she's debuted the first single, "Russian Roulette," showcasing a much darker side of the singer.
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