The Internet practically exploded in outrage when word hit the tweets that Chris Brown and Rihanna had reunited, and it got even worse when word went out that Brown was possibly the rumored special guest on the remix of Rihanna's "Birthday Cake."
TMZ got the ball rolling with a report that confirmed that Chris attended Rihanna's birthday party in secret. TMZ also reported that the pair's interactions were "intimate," suggesting that a romance had been rekindled between the two.
Then, Miss Info, a Hot 97 radio personality, confirmed that Chris Brown was indeed the mystery guest on the full version of Rihanna's "Birthday Cake" that the producers Da Internz talked about. Which is confusing, since Da Internz responded to a fan on Twitter that Chris WASN'T the mystery guest, but they have since deleted that tweet. So who knows.
The truth won't come out until the song premieres, which is supposed to be sometime next week, according to reports. But the mere idea of Chris and Rihanna reuniting on record has offended and incensed some of her supporters.
Anyone but Chris Brown on #CAKE @rihanna
— Heather Duke (@TheHeatherDuke) February 17, 2012
Jesus wept @ this Rihanna/CB birthday cake possibility. @rihanna #Career Suicide is not whats popping girl
— Bae Bae (@PureStylez05) February 17, 2012
@rihanna If you actually do a collab with chris brown, you're fucked. Way to encourage abuse as a positive thing. #norespect
— heidi brown (@heiditaylorxo) February 17, 2012
@RIHANNA YOU BETTER NOT BE DOING NO BIRTHDAY CAKE REMIX WIT CHRIS BROWN -____- !!!!!!!
— Justo Mugusto.(@Jizzleeee) February 17, 2012
Members of the Rihanna Navy have every reason to be upset about this. When Rihanna suffered her assault, she shared her hurt with fans in interviews and in music. Her fans, in turn, invested emotionally in her pain and worked tirelessly to rebuild the singer's strength and status in the industry. They battled for her in the comments sections of sites and blogs. Especially when people heartlessly insisted that she deserved the beating she received at the hands of Chris Brown.
And Rihanna encouraged her fans' support as she poured the sordid details of her relationship with Brown out in her Rated R track "Cold Case Love," which she admitted was about the toxic, poisonous love she had with Brown.
"What you did to me was a crime, cold case love / And I let you reach me one last time, but that's enough," Rihanna vows on the painful track.
It's hard to imagine how anyone on Rihanna or Chris' team can think putting the two back together again in any way would be beneficial to either star. The public still has very strong feelings about what happened between them and Chris is just now starting to regain mainstream acceptance. Pairing up with Rihanna on a song will only reinforce and remind people of what he so desperately wants to sweep under the rug.
As for Rihanna, running back into the arms of someone who ruthlessly, mercilessly and savagely pummeled her makes her look like the weakest, most foolish woman to ever grace the earth. It detracts from her public persona as a strong, level-headed, indepedent woman and casts her as a spineless, empty shell of a girl.
What happened to the woman who pointedly addressed the issue of any lingering feelings for Brown in her 20/20 interview with Diane Sawyer with the mature and rational comment?
"Eff love. Come out of the situation and look at it third person and for what it really is and then make your decision because love is so blind."
Even worse, taking up with Chris Brown again spits in the face of her fans and supporters who rallied around her at her time of need. Whether Rihanna likes it or not, her face and her case is one of the most high-profile domestic violence cases to hit the media since Ike and Tina Turner. What message is she sending to those same fans by rekindling her relationship with her abuser? That the attack wasn't "that serious"? That she must've "liked it" if she's going back to him? That they wasted their time defending her?
If we're lucky, cooler and wiser heads will prevail to prevent this collaboration on record, if it exists, from ever seeing the light of day. Chris Brown and Rihanna's abusive relationship is one mistake that should never warrant an encore performance.
