Highlights from Rihanna’s ‘Next Chapter’ Interview with Oprah Winfrey

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

If you were like me, you were glued to your television screen last night for Rihanna’s highly-anticipated interview with Oprah Winfrey.

The Next Chapter interview which took place on the lovely island of Barbados revealed a number of things that not only shocked Winfrey but I’m sure fans and supporters as well.

No subject was off limits between Rihanna and Lady O as they discussed everything from Rihanna’s sexually charged image to her true feelings about Chris Brown to the awesome responsibilities of fame.

Here she is in her own words…

Rihanna on being comfortable with her sexuality…

(LOL) I had to fake it ‘til I make it. That’s what I had to do. I had to pretend that I was as comfortable. I really was not. No way!  Barbados would be very proud of that. I just felt like I had to fake it. I had to just go for it. In Barbados, we have a very sexy culture. You have to overcome certain things. And, you know, I’m 24 and I can do that now. Now I can experiment and I can try things and I can figure myself out.

Rihanna on what she wants her fans to know…

I want them [fans] to feel comfortable knowing that I have flaws as well. I want them to know those flaws because I’m afraid of the pedestal. I am super-duper afraid of the pedestal that comes with fame and being a celebrity. So I keep myself as close to the ground as possible. I want to be a peer to my fans. I don’t ever want to be above them or think that because their fans that I’m not one of them and their not one of us. We are all people. We have different purposes.

Rihanna on being more concerned about Chris Brown versus herself…

It was a weird, confusing space to be in. Cuz as angry as I was…angry and hurt and betrayed; I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help. Like who’s gonna help him?  Nobody’s gonna say that he needs help. Everybody’s gonna say that he’s a monster without looking at the source. I was more concerned about him!

Rihanna on Chris Brown being at peace…

I think he was the love of my life, he was the first love. And I see that he loved me the same way. We were very young and very spontaneous. Like we were…we ran free, we run wild. We were falling in love and going at a really rapid pace that we forgot about ourselves as individuals. We forgot about our personal discipline. We needed something to completely shut that off and show us what we were missing, what we were taking for granted. And if we really care about each other, care about each other’s happiness so it’s not even about us being together. I truly loved him, so the main thing for me is that he is at peace. You know? I’m not at peace if he is a little unhappy or he’s still lonely. You know that’s…I care…It actually matters that he finds that peace.