In what is shaping up as dueling interviews from former lovers whose affair went very wrong, Chris Brown this Friday will give an interview to MTV News talking about his attack on former girlfriend Rihanna. One day earlier, Rihanna will talk to ABC’s Diane Sawyer about the assault that left her bruised and bloody on the eve of the Grammy Awards in February.

In excerpts from Brown’s interview released Wednesday by MTV News, Brown said he is “confused right now as far as the public perception of me…I got the people that come out and support me and I got the people who don’t want to see me do anything. They want to see me, kind of, basically, in jail.”

Brown’s excerpts follow by one day the release of an interview Rihanna gave to Glamour magazine in which she talked publicly about the incident for the first time. She told Glamour she wanted to alert young women to the “big secret” of abusive relationships. “Teenage girls can’t tell their parents that their boyfriend beats them up…It’s one of the things we (women) hide because it’s embarrassing,” Rihanna said. You can read a story about it here.

Brown, 20, already had been interviewed before by Larry King (read about that here), but the chat with MTV News promises to be even more revealing. It airs on Friday, Nov. 6, at 6 p.m. ET/PT. Rihanna, 21, will talk to Sawyer on ABC’s morning chat show “Good Morning America” on Thursday and Friday.

The interviews, not coincidentally, reach fans as both singers promote the release of new albums. They had to talk about the assault at some time — Rihanna to share her side of the assault and Brown to try to redeem himself in the public eye — and promotion seems as good a reason as any for the singers. Brown has already apologized, pleaded guilty to assault and been sentenced to five years probation and community service.

Rihanna, whose hit singles include “Umbrella” and “Disturbia,” sees her new CD “Rated R” hit record stores on Nov. 23, and Brown’s record label said on Wednesday that the release of his “Grafitti” has been pushed forward by one week to Dec. 8. He also begins a “Fan Appreciation Tour” on Nov. 14.

Midway through Larry King’s interview with singer Chris Brown that aired this week on CNN, the “Suspendered One” asked Brown what he and pop star Rihanna actually fought about. It was as King was trying to get the 20 year-old singer to finally open up about the night in February, when Brown attacked his then girlfriend Rihanna while in Los Angeles, leaving her bruised and bloodied.

Brown refused to talk about the incident, and much has been made of that in media reports about KIng’s interview with Brown. But one exchange has received scant mention, and it’s a zinger from King directed at Brown. The 75 year-old King was asking his much younger interviewee what, at their young age, he and Rihanna might fight about that could lead to such a violent result, and he gave a sardonic example.

“What lollipop are we going to get tomorrow?” King said, according to the transcript.

“No. Right,” Brown responded. “But it’s not really a — it really wasn’t ever like — our relationship was pretty good. Like, I — like we had a pretty steady and great relationship.”

Brown might have shrugged off the lollipop remark, but it was one of the more salient exchanges in the interview, and it seemed to have him searching for words as a result.

Brown discussed what happened late in February, when he and Rihanna reunited in Miami, at the home of rap star Sean “Diddy” Combs. Brown said that at the time, they did not want to talk about the beating incident, because “the situation was really touchy,” and they just rekindled their friendship. The Miami reunion had been widely covered in the media, but neither Brown or Rihanna has talked about it.

Brown also said that he would like to do more than just the 180 days of manual work that is in store for him as part of his sentencing for attacking Rihanna.

“I feel like with — with what I’m capable of doing as far as influencing people, influencing kids, the youth, I can do a lot more to help the community other than picking up trash. But I don’t — I’m not saying picking up trash is something wrong. I’m willing to do it. But I’m just saying, I know I can do a lot more, which I intend to do, aside from our community service,” Brown told King.

It looks like Brown may have something in mind along the lines of what rapper T.I. did before he was sentenced to a year in prison on gun charges. In the lead up to sentencing, T.I. toured the United States speaking to young people about the dangers of drugs and gangs, and Brown may be looking to spread a similar message about the damage that domestic abuse does.

If he does spread that message it could help Brown not only with the judge overseeing his case, but in the eyes of the public.

Going into Monday’s criminal hearing for R&B singer Chris Brown , the buzz at the court house centered on the possible testimony of Rihanna , who was Brown’s girlfriend in February when he assaulted her in a rented Lamborghini on the eve of the Grammy Awards. But Rihanna and Chris Brown never faced off in court.

Instead, Brown pleaded guilty to assault and left the court room through the front entrance. Moments later, Rihanna was shown into the court through the back door. She was dressed all in black, and came in wearing sunglasses and pearls around her neck. She set a black hand bag down on a chair, took off her sunglasses and stood listening as Los Angeles Judge Patricia Schnegg explained the terms of the stay-away order she had just issued against Brown. 

Schnegg told Rihanna that the order is “really two-ways,” meaning that Rihanna must stay away from Brown just as he must stay away from her. She also said that the two must remain at least 50 yards apart, which is reduced to 10 yards if the two are attending the same public event. Schnegg also told Rihanna that, after Brown completes his required domestic violence courses, if the pop diva wants to make the terms of the stay-away order less restrictive, the judge would consider that.

Minutes before, Rihanna’s attorney Donald Etra had told the judge that his client would be happy with a less restrictive protective order, which does not set a specific distance that Rihanna and Brown must be apart. Schnegg opted for the stay-away order instead, but did not say why she set that standard.

 Media reports that came out three weeks after Brown struck Rihanna indicated that the couple had reunited after the incident. But in recent weeks the two have not spent any time together in the public, and all indications are that they have broken up.

Both Brown and Rihanna showed little emotion during the court hearing. Before leaving, Rihanna simply told the judge, “Thank you, your honor.”

With the out-of-court settlement between Brown and prosecutors, there was no need for Rihanna to testify, and it seems that all parties involved wanted to avoid having her take the stand to recount Brown’s attack.

After pleading guilty, Brown faces five years of probation, but he avoids a sentence of more than four years in jail. The L.A. District Attorney’s Office and Rihanna’s attorney all said they were pleased with the sentence. Was Brown lucky to avoid jail time? Or did he get the sentence he deserved?

 Have Chris Brown and Rihanna really reconciled, less than three weeks after he was arrested on charges of beating her?

 Reports in celebrity magazines  People and Us Weekly suggest that the R&B stars are back together again despite all the negative publicity over the nasty end to their evening out on the eve of the Grammys in February.

 Los Angeles prosecutors are taking their time deciding whether to file formal charges against Brown while police investigate who leaked the  picture last week of a bruised Rihanna.

 Should the couple have reunited so fast? And what will happen to the criminal case against Brown if  Rihanna has decided to take him back and decides not to testify against him.?

It took a week,  but singer Chris Brown finally apologized over the weekend for “what transpired” last Sunday on the day of the music industry’s Grammy awards. While Brown did not say exactly “what transpired,” we know he was arrested after an altercation with an unidentified woman and was later charged by Los Angeles officials with making criminal threats.

While police have never identified the woman, it has been widely reported that she is his (former?) girlfriend, pop star Rihanna. Celebrity websites and magazines have reported that the incident happened shortly after Brown left a Beverly Hills party with Rihanna, and that she suffered bruises on her face and a split lip.

In his statement, Brown said “words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired.” He added that he was “seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones” and that “much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and/or reported in the media is wrong.”

Brown gave no details about what may have happened in his statement because the case is a matter for law enforcement officials, but he has hired one of Los Angeles’ most noted crisis managers in the public relations business. So, clearly he’s on a mission to put some shine back on his tarnished reputation as an all around good guy.

Certainly his statement is a good first step, but will it be enough? Some of Brown’s showbiz colleagues have defended him, including hip-hop star Kanye West who said, “Can’t we give Chris a break?” during a taping of VH1’s “Storytellers” on Friday. But what do you think?

It has come to this for Chris Brown. Fans of the R&B star have been asked to shred his CDs.

Top 40 radio station WBLI in Long Island, New York is holding a “Shred Chris Brown CDs and Posters” event on Friday the 13th — the day known for bad luck and, coincidentally this year, the day before Valentine’s Day — and asking its listeners to turn out at 10:30 a.m. EST at the BLI Studios in West Babylon, NY, to do it.

“We’re also pulling all of his (Brown’s) music for all day Friday to support Rihanna, to take a stance against battering women,” said Jeremy Rice, program director for WBLI which boasts about 700,000 listeners in the region just outside New York City.

Representatives for the station are quick to point out that the promotion is also a Valentine’s Day event to give all those jilted lovers a chance to blow off steam before V-day. But right now, shredding Brown seems to be an ideal way to vent romantic frustration.

The R&B singer was arrested  on suspicion of making criminal threats against an unidentified woman early Sunday morning ahead of the Grammy awards. Los Angeles police have never said exactly who the woman was, but it has been widely reported as his girlfriend (or should we say, ”former girlfriend”) Rihanna. 

The Brown CD shred fest begs the question of whether the singer is being unfairly presumed guilty of attacking Rihanna before being given a chance to prove his innocence, but Rice is right when he notes that news reports and celebrity website reports are stacking up ever higher against Brown. “He looks pretty guilty,” said Rice.

Rice said comments at WBLI’s website are running about 50:50 for and against Brown. Our own comments (see below) are mixed, too. But many favor giving him a break until the evidence — not just hearsay based on unnamed sources — is public.

YBPhony says “We should not put Chris in the dog house without knowing ALL of the facts.” True, but it still could be fun shredding his CDs ahead of Valentine’s Day.

Is Chris Brown guilty of attacking Rihanna? A snap poll of readers at AOL website popeater.com shows most people thinks so.

A full 71 percent said they believe Brown did attack his girlfriend, Rihanna, in the early morning hours of Sunday ahead of the Grammy awards. Only 7 percent answered ”no.” Twenty-two percent said they had no idea, which is hopeful for all those who presume a person is innocent before being proven guilty.

In fact, we don’t yet know 100 percent that it was Rihanna he attacked (yeah, right) because the Los Angeles police do not identify victims of domestic abuse. So far, the cops have said only that Brown attacked an unidentified woman, was arrested and later charged with making criminal threats. His actions of Sunday morning remain under investigation.

Still, ever since both cancelled appearances at the Grammys, the buzz around Hollywood — never denied by anyone — has been that the singer of songs like “Umbrella” is the one whom Brown attacked. The question is less was she a victim, but more a victim of exactly what? While details have been splashed all over celebrity websites and magazines, no one except Brown and Rihanna truly know, and they aren’t talking — not publicly.

Popeater also asked if Brown’s career — his hits include “Forever” and “Kiss Kiss” — is over, and it is hard to believe the 19 year-old’s fate is now and forever sealed as a pop singing has been. In fact, 63 percent of those responding to the poll believe he can make a comeback and only 27 percent said he’s finished. We’ve all seen a lot of celebrity scandals over the years and it seems most stars, after a stint or two in rehab, seem to be able to make it to back to some level of notoriety. Maybe Brown can get over this one, too.

But we’ve had a lot of comments on our previous post on Brown and Rihanna, so we thought we’d take a stab (pardon the pun) at this question, too. Chris Brown, innocent or guilty or should we at least give him a chance to explain himself?

R & B supercouple Chris Brown and Rihanna suddenly found their relationship thrust into the headlines when Brown was arrested on suspicion of attacking a woman widely reported to be Rihanna.

While various celebrity web sites, citing sources near both Brown and Rihanna, reported details of an argument in Brown’s car in the wee hours of Sunday morning, the fact is that right now, nobody really knows exactly what happened except those two, and neither is talking to anyone but the police. And the police have been equally quiet.

Brown and Rihanna scrupulously avoided discussing their relationship in the past, which makes what went wrong even more of a mystery.

Last fall, shortly before a show in Australia, Rihanna was interviewed by Melbourne radio station Fox 101.9 and talked about Brown, but would not confirm they were anything more than friends. “We are very good friends, we are cool, we are best friends, we hang out all the time, and now we’re doing a tour together,” she told the station.

When asked about why she did not want to talk more about the relationship, the Barbados-born pop diva said that she had her reasons to be close-lipped. “I speak my mind and I don’t really have any regrets, even if I said something now and things change, things always change you know in life. People change,” she said. 

Brown also did not speak much about his relationship with Rihanna. But in 2007, he told Giant Magazine  that his former stepfather used to hit his mother. “He made me terrified all the time, terrified like I had to pee on myself. I remember one night he made her nose bleed. I was crying and thinking, ‘I’m just gonna go crazy on him one day…’ I hate him to this day,” he told the magazine.

Here’s the update. On Tuesday, celebrity news outlet Access Hollywood reported that Brown’s former stepfather, Donnelle Hawkins, denied Brown’s 2007 allegation.

“There was a lot of arguing between his mom and I,” Hawkins told Access Hollywood. “I never raised a hand at his mom.” 

For a couple who tried to keep their relationship quiet, the latest incident is sure to be a personal nightmare for Rihanna and Brown.

                                                                                                                                                 Grammy organizers had to play a quick game of musical chairs on Sunday when two of the awards show’s top-billed performers dropped out shortly before the telecast.                                                            
Late Sunday, news broke that top-selling R&B singer Chris Brown, who has been romantically linked to pop singer Rihanna, was under investigation by Los Angeles police for attacking an unidentified woman after an argument in his car early Sunday morning, hours before he was scheduled to perform his hit single “Forever” at the Grammys. 

                                                           
Then shortly later, before Rihanna’s scheduled performance, reporters backstage were handed a tersely-worded notice by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences saying the singer would not be performing at the Grammys.    

                                                                                      
“We have just been informed that Rihanna will not be attending tonight’s 51st Annual Grammy Awards. We’re sorry she is unable to join us,” the academy said in a brief statement that did not offer any further explanation.   

                                                                                                         
But the show must go on and so two stars, pop icon Justin Timberlake and R&B legend Al Green stepped in to fill in the slot where Rihanna had been slated to perform her latest hit, “Disturbia” early on in the telecast. 

“We had 2 hours and 40 minutes to rehearse it,” said Green backstage. “I thrive on that kind of energy becuase it is just spontaneous.”

                                                                                                        
Brown, who released his first album in 2005 at the age of 16, the self-titled “Chris Brown,” topped the charts with his hit single “Run it.” Barbados-born Rihanna has already logged four Number 1 singles since breaking onto the charts in 2005. In 2007, she scored a Grammy for her hit “Umbrella,” a collaboration with the rapper Jay-Z.      

(Reuters photo of Rihanna and Chris Brown by Lucas Jackson)

Maybe they should change the name of the MTV Video Music Awards to the Britneys.

For the second year in a row, Britney Spears took center stage at Sunday’s event, winning all three categories in which she was nominated, including the coveted video of the year.

Unfortunately, her triumph could be overshadowed by the failure of MTV’s hype machine.

After weeks of speculation, the cable channel confirmed a few days ago that Spears would open the show. No, she would not sing, but the network promised something fun and unexpected.

What viewers got was a drawn-out prerecorded skit in which the ungainly actor Jonah Hill used mind-control techniques to try to kiss her. Then we were treated to her brief, real-time trek from the dressing room to the stage, surrounded by flustered handlers.  Once in the spotlight, she awkwardly held her microphone over much of her face, and delivered four groundbreaking sentences.

“Thank you so much. Thank you for all the love. I’m here tonight to celebrate a very important birthday, the 25th anniverary of the VMAs. This is the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards and it starts right now.”

And that’s what evidently passes for fun at MTV these days.    

She went on to win the first three “Moonman” statuettes of her career, but her acceptance speeches were pretty bland. It’s hard to imagine that she showed up without a guarantee that she would win some hardware. How much more humiliation can the cable channel dish out to her following her disastrous lip-synch at last year’s show?

To be fair, no one really cares who wins at MTV’s flagship kudocast. It’s all about the performances and the drama and the fashion. Even with “real” awards shows like the Oscars and the Grammys, the key winners are usually erased from the public consciousness within a day or so.

Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Pink and Kid Rock delivered memorable performances. (Disclaimer: Kid Rock’s performance of “All Summer Long,” a mashup of Sweet Home Alabama and Werewolves of London, was the only song I knew.)

On-stage fireworks were limited to a rather silly controversy initiated by host Russell Brand about the Jonas Brothers’ chastity vows. Jordin Sparks, Ashley Tisdale and Paris Hilton quickly came to the boys’ defence.

Ashley and Paris came back to the chilly, distant soundstage where the humble reporters were uncomfortably sequestered next to the photographers. They deigned to talk to us. People like Britney and LL Cool J ignored us as they made a bee line for the photo area.
 

A dance troupe called Fanny Pack executed a series of wacky poses for photograpers, but no one took their photos. No reporters were interested in talking to them.

The Pussycat Dolls posed with their Moonman statuette for best dancing in a video (a somewhat dubious accolade). Nicole Scherzinger, who had custody of the statuette, stayed on the podium posing long after her bandmates had left.

- Reporting by Dean Goodman