On Monday morning, Chris Brown talked with Matt Lauer on the “Today” show to discuss his new album “X” and his tumultuous relationship with Rihanna. The two are on good terms now after he brutally beat her after the Grammys in 2009.
In the interview, Brown said that he has grown up over the past couple of years and is proving to his fans and to Rihanna that he has changed.
“I’ve been humbled by the whole experience,” he says. “From me losing everything, you know, to me having to regain public opinion or whatever it is — but most importantly, you know, knowing that what I did was totally wrong and having to kind of deal with myself and kind of forgive myself in the same breath and being able to apologize to, you know, Rihanna and be that man that can be who is a man, you know?”
Brown also told Lauer that he and Rihanna are still a couple, saying that the host on Power 106 took his comments out of context. “We’re fine,” the host “got it wrong.”
Brown went on to say the following about the public criticism:
“I think everybody is entitled to their opinion. For me, it’s just a learning process. You know, I have to just take it one day at a time. I can’t make everybody like me … it’s about me being positive,” he told Lauer. He also said he took a 52-week domestic violence counseling program to better himself as a person.
“I think it’s just me proving myself once again,” he said. “Knowing that what I did was wrong, and never doing it again. So as far as me and [Rihanna] are concerned, she knows my heart, and I know her heart. So I’m not really focused on the negative.”
“For me, it’s about proving myself to my fans,” Brown added. “The only thing I can do is please my family, myself, and please her, you know, and my fans.”