Rihanna, Chris Want to Get Closer

Singer talks Chris Brown assault, says she didn't call 911

(NEWSER) - In the wake of her assault at the hands of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna has a new, edgier sound and look—just check out the cover—and she talks about both with GQ . Eight months later, finally talking about the assault is “very liberating,” she says, recalling that, in the wake of her drama, “nobody” helped her get through it—it was recording her new album that helped her to heal. More»

Speaking out for first time since attacking Rihanna, singer says he's still shocked

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown spoke out for the first time since his assault of then-girlfriend Rihanna, but “spoke” is a relative term. “Wow” was the word he used most often to describe to CNN's Larry King the shock he still feels about the incident. “No, I don't” remember doing it, he says. “It's like, it's crazy to me. I'm like, wow. I just look at it like, wow, I'm in shock.” More»

Joyce Hawkins says assault is a lesson from God

(NEWSER) - Chris Brown’s mother is speaking out for the first time since her son's assault on Rihanna, thanking fans for supporting him, E! reports. “I can now say this has been the most painful moment in my entire life,” Joyce Hawkins writes on his fan club website. “This whole thing isn't about Chris, it's about God. He wants to show all of you the goodness of him through Chris.” More»

Singer faces community labor at sentencing

(NEWSER) - Rihanna will make her first public performance since the Chris Brown assault at a somewhat unlikely venue: the Jay Leno Show, E! reports. She will join Kanye West and Jay-Z for Leno’s primetime debut Sept. 14. Brown isn’t doing quite so well: Wrigley cut his sponsorship deal, and he faces a community labor sentence—that’s harder than community service—at his Aug. 27 sentencing, the New York Daily News adds. More»

Singer wants restraining order against Brown gone

(NEWSER) - As Chris Brown awaits sentencing today, Rihanna is again trying to squash a court order requiring him to stay 50 yards away, her lawyer tells People. Meanwhile, her mother is afraid she’s “playing Russian roulette with her life” by allowing Brown to keep his “power over her,” the Mirror reports. Elsewhere:

• Don’t count Joan Rivers among Jon Gosselin fans. “I’m disgusted by him,” she tells the New York Post. “Here's a guy with eight kids who runs off to ‘find himself’—well, he should have found himself a condom.”