Rihanna Says She Has Reconciled With Chris Brown

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press Chris Brown and Rihanna at a Lakers game in December.

Rihanna has told Rolling Stone she has reconciled with her boyfriend Chris Brown, who was convicted of brutally assaulting her four years ago just before the Grammy Awards. She said she has decided to give him a second chance despite criticism that her decision might be seen as forgiving violence against women. Over the last year there have signs the couple had resumed dating: they collaborated on sons and appeared in public together several times.

“I decided it was more important for me to be happy,” she told the magazine. “I wasn’t going to let anybody’s opinion get in the way of that. Even if it’s a mistake, it’s my mistake. After being tormented for so many years, being angry and dark, I’d rather just live my truth and take the backlash. I can handle it.”

Four years ago, Mr. Brown attacked Rihanna in a car after a party on the eve of the Grammy Awards. He pleaded guilty to assault and received a sentence of five years’ probation. Over the weekend, the police in Los Angeles said, Mr. Brown was involved in an altercation with the R&B singer Frank Ocean over a parking space.

“When you add up the pieces from the outside, it’s not the cutest puzzl! e in the world,” Rihanna said. “You see us walking somewhere, driving somewhere, in the studio, in the club, and you think you know. But it’s different now. We don’t have those types of arguments anymore.” She added she would not stand for any more violence from Mr. Brown. “That’s just not an option,” she said.