Rihanna Says Going Back To Chris Brown After Beating Sent “Wrong Message”

In her first television interview since being assaulted by former flame Chris Brown, pop princess Rihanna says it was “”wrong” of her to take the crooner back.

“That’s embarrassing that that’s the type of person that I fell in love with,” the singer told Diane Sawyer on ABC’s Good Morning America Thursday. “So far in love. So unconditional that I went back. It’s humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It’s a traumatizing experience.”

During the interview, she confirmed that Brown, 20, held her in a headlock twice and bit her on the ear and fingers the night before the 2009 Grammys last February. The attack occurred in Los Angeles’ Hancock Park neighborhood as Brown drove a rented sports car.

“I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong,” Rihanna said. “It’s completely normal to go back. You start lying to yourself…I’ll say that to any young girl who is going through domestic violence: ‘Don’t react off of love.’”

Rihanna, 21, also hinted that it may have taken “eight or nine attempts” before she could finally leave the relationship.

“It’s pretty easy to go back….When I realized that my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part,” she says. “I couldn’t be responsible for that. Even if Chris never hit me again, who’s to say their boyfriend won’t? Who’s to say they won’t kill these girls? I didn’t realize how much of an impact I had on these girls’ lives until that happened.”

ABC will air more chunks of the interview on Friday’s GMA. The interview will air in its entirety Friday evening on 20/20.