Chris Brown admits that his infamous assault on Rihanna in 2009 was “absolutely wrong”.
The popstar, who has in the past refused to address the issue, has been more oppen of late about the the incident that shattered his reputation. According to the Daily Mail, Brown is desperately trying to win over the public and show sceptics that he is a changed man.
On Monday, Brown spoke openly about the assault and his subsequent counselling with Today Show host Matt Lauer.
“I think it is just proving myself once again and me being a man. Knowing what I did was wrong and never doing it again,” he told Lauer.
“As far as she (Rihanna) and I are concerned, she knows my heart and I know her heart. I am not really focused on the negative, everything is positive for me. I did my 52 weeks of couselling and learned it was absolutely wrong.”
Brown, who is currently promoting his latest album, Fine China, said he played the incident over and over again in his head during counselling.
“It was domestic violence counselling. A 52 week program. Every Monday in Virginia, I remember going, sitting in there thinking "why did I do what I did?" I really just wanted to get help,” he said.
The 23-year-old, who has engaged in a few vicious Twitter spats with detractors since the incident, told Lauer he realised that some people would never forgive him.
“I am moving forward, positively. I think for me it is about proving myself to my fans and for me my fans have been my number one support,” he said.
“The naysayers are going to have their opinion. Anything I do... It's not going to be "Chris is the greatest". So I am not going to focus my life on pleasing those people. The only thing I can do is please my family, myself and please her (Rihanna) and my fans.”
In an earlier interview with Idols host Ryan Seacrest, Brown revealed how he managed to win Rihanna back.
“I just tried my best to be the best man I could be over the years and just show her how remorseful and sorry I was for the incident and that time was probably the worst part of my life and being that she has and she’s a wonderful person I’m eternally grateful and thankful,” he said.