Rihanna Defends Violent Video

'Man Down' video attacked by advocacy groups
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2011 2:38 AM CDT

BET is refusing to pull a violent Rihanna music video that has drawn fire from groups including the Parents Television Council. The video for "Man Down" opens with the singer shooting a man in the head. It's later implied that he may have sexually assaulted her. Rihanna defends the video as "art with a message," reports AP. "We just wanted to hone in on a very serious matter that people are afraid to address, especially if you've been victimized in this scenario," said the singer, the victim of an assault by then-boyfriend Chris Brown in 2009.

(She also addressed the drama more casually on Twitter, notes Jezebel. Sample: "What's up with everybody wantin me to be a parent?") "If Chris Brown shot a woman in his new video and BET premiered it, the world would stop," the co-founder of the Industry Ears group said in a statement. "Rihanna should not get a pass, and BET should know better. The video is far from broadcast worthy." MTV says it is still in the process of reviewing the video, and it has yet to appear for sale on iTunes. Click for more from Rihanna's Twitter tirade on the topic. (More Rihanna stories.)

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