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"Rihanna and ex-boyfriend Chris Brown &amp;quot;still love each other,&amp;quot; she told Oprah Winfrey as part of an hour-long interview that ran Sunday on Winfrey&amp;apos;s OWN network. Rihanna was at once emotional and forthright about the night in 2009 that Brown beat her up, and her roller-coaster ride to fame.&amp;#xA0;\r\nThe Brown incident was &amp;quot;embarrassing,&amp;quot; &amp;quot;humiliating&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;hurtful,&amp;quot; Rihanna said. Brown beat her up in 2009 the night before she was to have performed on the Grammys. He pleaded guilty to a felony assault charge and was sentenced to community service, five years&amp;apos; probation and domestic violence counseling.&amp;#xA0;\r\n&amp;quot;Everything I knew switched in a night and I couldn&amp;apos;t control that,&amp;quot; Rihanna said. &amp;quot;It was hard for me to even pay attention to my mind and figure things out because now it became a circus and I felt protective.&amp;quot; The world was quick to condemn the man she calls &amp;quot;the love of her life,&amp;quot; but Rihanna said she remained worried about Brown. &amp;quot;I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;Everybody&amp;#x2019;s gonna say he&amp;apos;s a monster without looking at the source. Who&amp;apos;s gonna help him?&amp;quot;\r\nReconciling with her formerly abusive father helped Rihanna to forgive Brown, whom she recently saw in San Tropez. She now considers the R&amp;amp;B star &amp;quot;a very close friend,&amp;quot; she said. &amp;quot;We&amp;apos;ve been working on our friendship again,&amp;quot; she explained. &amp;quot;We&amp;apos;ve built a trust again. We love each other and we probably always will and that&amp;apos;s not anything that we&amp;apos;re gonna try to change. That&amp;apos;s not something you can shut off if you&amp;apos;ve ever been in love. We&amp;apos;ve worked on it little by little. It&amp;apos;s not easy. The main thing for me is that he&amp;apos;s at peace.&amp;quot;\r\nRihanna also expounded on her mega-sized fame. &amp;quot;I&amp;apos;m living the life of my dreams,&amp;quot; she said, though she was quick to add that celebrity hasn&amp;apos;t become second-nature. &amp;quot;I don&amp;apos;t think it will ever be normal,&amp;quot; she said. The singer, who has been open in her music about her voracious sexual appetite, said such transparency was a process. Her initial attitude? &amp;quot;Fake it &amp;apos;til I make it.&amp;quot;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/rihanna-tells-oprah-she-and-chris-brown-still-love-each-other-20120820>