The Tripod

On Friday night's installment of 20/20, Diane Sawyer spoke to pop superstar Rihanna about her infamous and shocking domestic abuse incident with her boyfriend, the equally successful Chris Brown. Halfway through the revealing and emotional interview, Sawyer showed Rihanna some YouTube clips of people commenting on the situation. Most of the reactions were disturbingly negative; one commentator went as far as to accuse Rihanna of provoking the attack that left her battered and bruised. Rihanna's response: "it's ignorance."

It should be safe to say that those people are hiding their heads in shame after virtually blasting the singer to her face. I mean, how do you say to someone that it was her fault for being viciously assaulted in a car?

And yet, that same opinion and accusation has been repeated over and over in YouTube videos, blog posts, and in casual conversation among America's youth. Even the true motives of her interview were subject to similar scrutiny - she's only speaking now because her new album is coming out soon.

Of course, these protestations lacked foundation when Chris Brown delivered his statement to Larry King in September, or when he spoke to MTV on the same day as Rihanna spoke to 20/20. Both of his appearances presented a shockingly incoherent young man who couldn't even muster a simple explanation for his behavior. All he could offer to his fans was a tepid apology and proclamations of attaining counsel for his family and his pastor.

And yet, Rihanna, who was clearly disturbed as she retold the events of Feb. 8, is the one being targeted. She is being criticized for telling the truth when the only other party present, Chris Brown, is too afraid of either legal ramifications or losing the fans who have remained undeterred by his reprehensible actions.

Rihanna, regardless of the timing, gave a voice and a face to the violence that millions of couples endure on a daily basis. She spoke candidly about the incident: why she went back to Chris, her embarrassment over the leaked pictures and her post-abuse relationship, and finally the obligation she felt towards the young girls who are in the same position she is in. She bravely spoke in detail about the faults that they both brought to their relationship, as to acknowledge that there were two sides to the story.

Some people are treating this interview as a shameless way to promote new material. And it is obvious that publicists, managers, and artists with ulterior motives are hard at work exploiting an already tragic situation.

Yet even with all the hocus pocus working behind the scenes, the most unfortunate part of the interview was witnessing one of the biggest pop stars of our time be reduced to the merciless judgment of literally everyone. The double standard was blatant, and pity - not respect or sympathy - was the only emotion I could muster. Surely, if the motive behind finally granting this highly anticipated interview was to raise public support and subsequently promote Rhianna's upcoming album, then I have to judge it as a colossal failure. I simply expected more.

Article Tools