R&B pop singer Chris Brown says his audience and fellow artists have moved on and that he’s been forgiven for assaulting ex-girlfriend Robyn Rihanna Fenty, better known as Rihanna.
In an interview with Page Six, Brown cites other artists interests in working with him as a sign of progress and forgiveness.
"They wanna get on the record. They wanna let me back in the door. The last two years, everybody dissed me, but my fans were so dedicated," Brown told Page Six.
"A handful of people stuck by me," Brown said, including fellow artists Pitbull and Pharrell Williams of N.E.R.D.
It’s been three years since Brown was booked on felony criminal charges after assaulting Rihanna. He was convicted of assault back in 2009 and sentenced to five years probation, 180 days of community labor and ordered not to contact Rihanna. Along with community service Brown also sought therapy and anger management classes. In a January 2010 interview Brown told Wendy Williams that he was now in "the best place in my life."
The saga still continues though.
On February 22, 2011, a Los Angeles judge replaced Rihanna’s restraining order with a level one order — allowing Brown to contact Rihanna as long as he does not "harass, annoy, or molest her." Days later when MediaTakeOut.com released more LAPD images of Rihanna and Brown the night of the incident Brown took to twitter:
"The Devil is always busy!! But when u have a destiny, nothing or no one can stop what god has planned!"
It’s not clear who he was referring to in the tweet that has now been removed, but what is clear is that all these updates (including nude pictures of Brown) are showing up at what seems like an opportune time. The singer’s fourth album ‘F.A.M.E.’ — which stands for "Forgiving All My Enemies" — will be released March 22nd.
In the end, it’s less about whether your fans and fellow artists have forgiven you, and more about whether you’ve broken the cycle of domestic violence. Before assaulting Rihanna, Brown told TV host Tyra Banks that as a child he witnessed and heard his own mother be beaten and sexually assaulted her then-boyfriend. Watch a clip from that show below.