Rihanna Back Together with Chris Brown: "It's different now"

Much to the disappointment of fans rooting for her, Rihanna has officially confirmed she's back together with ex-boyfriend and abuser Chris Brown, who infamously assaulted her in 2009. In a very honest interview with Rolling Stone published today, she said "even if it's a mistake, it's my mistake... he made a mistake, and he's paid his dues." Rihanna told the magazine her happiness was more important than pleasing her critics.

Their rekindling should be no surprise, as the 24-year-old star has over the past few months tweeted pictures with and spent lots of time in the United States and abroad with Chris Brown, who's been on tour for much of that time.

The shocking beating in 2009 took place after a pre-Grammy party, where Rihanna had gotten upset with Brown over a text message from an ex-girlfriend. Their argument escalated into Brown punching her repeatedly in a car on their way home. Police were called when a witness heard her screaming. Brown plead guilty, after initially denying it, and was sentenced to five years' probation and counseling.

Rihanna told Rolling Stone, "It's different now. We don't have those types of arguments anymore. We talk about [things]. We value each other. We know exactly what we have now, and we don't want to lose that."

After the 2009 altercation, Rihanna showed remarkable maturity in a tell-all interview with Dianne Sawyer, in which she said she was blinded by love and went back to Brown "eight or nine times" after he beat her. She encouraged young girls not to repeat her mistakes and "react off love." Acknowledging her huge star power and influence, she told Sawyer "when I realized that my selfish decisions for love could result into some girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part. I couldn't be responsible... I just didn't realize how much of an impact I had on these girls until that happened."