Rihanna says Chris Brown fallout was her liberation

Rihanna has claimed that the fallout following her 2009 domestic violence incident with former boyfriend Chris Brown was her “liberation”.

The ‘We Found Love’ singer confessed that she initially felt over-exposed because of the high amount of publicity that the case received but was ultimately able to find the positive in her experience.

“I was like, ‘Well, f**k. They know more about me than I want them to know. It’s embarrassing’. But that was my opening. That was my liberation,” Rihanna explained in a new interview with Elle.

“I have more freedom the more people know about me. One less skeleton in the closet, one less burden, one less secret; now you know that, so you can say what you want about it. I don’t have anything to hide.”

The 24-year-old also spoke out on criticism about her recent collaboration with Brown on a remix of her track ‘Birthday Cake’ as well as teaming up for Brown’s song ‘Turn Up the Music’.

“I respect what other people have to say. The bottom line is that everyone thinks differently. It’s very hard for me to accept, but I get it,” Rihanna said.

“People end up wasting their time on the blogs or whatever, ranting away, and that’s all right. I don’t hate them for it. Because tomorrow I’m still going to be the same person. I’m still going to do what I want to do.”