Rihanna has defended her decision to collaborate with her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, who assaulted the singer in 2009.
The singer courted controversy in February when she teamed up with Brown to record new versions of her track Birthday Cake and his single Turn Up the Music. The tracks were released simultaneously, leading many to assume the pair had also reconciled romantically.
But in a new interview with Esquire magazine, Rihanna expressed surprised at the negative reaction: "The whole thing caught me a little off-guard … especially the amount of negative attention. Because it never occured to me how this was going to be a problem. It really didn't. I thought people were gonna be surprised that we finally did a record together, but I didn't see how people could think it was a bad thing. In my mind, it was just music."
Rihanna became angry at the suggestion that she was sending out the "wrong message" to younger fans, insisting that tracks were made "in a completely professional environment [and] on a complete professional note. I mean, if I went back to him, then that's a whole different discussion." Yet the star did not rule out the possibility of reuniting with Brown romantically. "If I ever do, then that's something that y'all have to talk to me about when – if – that ever happens. Until then, look at it for what it is. I think a lot of people jumped to an assumption that was incorrect, and they ended up looking stupid. Because of a song. How stupid."
