Talk about a next chapter!
Sunday night on "Oprah's Next Chapter," pop superstar Rihanna sat down with Oprah Winfrey to dish on a variety of topics. (And yes, Oprah made her cry!) But while the conversation naturally turned to the singer's volatile relationship with her ex-love, Chris Brown, she also talked about loss -- and what she's looking for in her next relationship.
On her love and loss with Chris Brown
"We were very young and very spontaneous," she said of her early days with the bad boy rapper. "We ran free, we ran wild. We were falling in love going in at a really rapid pace and we forgot about ourselves as individuals."
But in the aftermath of her 2009 Grammy-eve fight with Brown, in which he was charged with assaulting her, she said, "It was a weird, confusing space to be in." She told Oprah that she instantly felt "protective" of her ex.
"As angry as I was, as angry and hurt and betrayed, I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help," she explained. "Nobody's going to say he needs help. Everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source ... and I was more concerned about him."
She also expressed the sense of loss that she felt at the time. "I lost my best friend," she said. "Everything I knew switched-- switched overnight."
While Brown is now in another relationship, the currently-single Rihanna says she still loves him. "The main thing for me is that he's at peace," she said. "I'm not at peace if he's a little unhappy, or he's still lonely. I care. It matters that he finds that peace. We've been working on our friendship again and now we're very close friends. We love each other and we probably always will."
On losing her grandmother
Rihanna had a close relationship with her grandmother, whom she dubbed Gran Gran Dolly. When Gran Gran died late last year, the pop star canceled 10 concert dates in London to be by her side. But Gran Gran Dolly left her famous granddaughter with some important words of wisdom: She advised her to "marry a man who loves you more that you love him" because women always give more in relationships. "They'll only meet you halfway if they love you a little more," Rihanna said.
On how her relationship with her father affected her
Rihanna told Oprah that she witnessed violence between her parents as she was growing up and says it affected her relationships with men. For a long time she wouldn't even allow herself to get close to a guy. While her family eventually broke up due to her dad's addictions, she says she had a hard time separating her father's behavior as a husband from his behavior as a father. But once she was able to forgive her father, she was able to forgive Brown -- and start living again.
Today she says that when it comes to his parenting, her dad is tops. "He taught me everything" she said. "As awful as he was to my mom at times, it didn't compare to how great he was as a father."
On what she's looking for in a man now
Rihanna now has a laundry list of traits she wants in her future man. "I want a man that loves me, cherishes me, values me," she said. "They have to know my worth….I want them to respect me. I want fun times. Fun, fun times. I want laughs….I have everything else, all I want is a partner in crime to enjoy it with!"
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