Chris Brown: A History of Violence - How long were Chris Brown and Rihanna together? Relationship timeline explored

Chris Brown: A History of Violence is a documentary by Investigation Discovery (ID) that premiered in October 2024. It outlines the R&B singer’s widely publicized history of violence and highlights the experience of an alleged victim as she speaks out anonymously in the documentary.

Chris Brown rose to fame in the mid-2000s and was compared to Michael Jackson after his meteoric rise in the music scene. However, he faced criticism in 2009 when his then-girlfriend Rihanna was spotted with several bruises after he physically assaulted her. Rihanna and Brown were confirmed to be dating since December 2008, lasting less than a year. They rekindled their relationship in 2012, only to split within a few months.

Produced by Ample Entertainment, the 82-minute documentary delves into Brown’s life. Chris Brown: A History of Violence is a part of ID’s “No Excuse for Abuse” campaign, which was a part of the larger Domestic Violence Awareness Month project.

Read on to learn more about the history of the tumultuous relationship between Chris Brown and Rihanna.

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Chris Brown and Rihanna - A timeline of their relationship

Chris Brown: A History of Violence (Image via Getty)

Acclaimed R&B singer Chris Brown and the Grammy Award-winning artist and businesswoman Rihanna met in 2004 as teenagers. This was around the time they both started to make a name for themselves in the music industry. The two became fast friends but maintained that they were not in a relationship for several years.

In 2008, Rihanna denied any rumors of a relationship to MTV News. However, they reportedly began dating by the end of the same year. On February 8, 2009, a couple argument escalated and ended in physical violence. Rihanna was pictured in a hospital with several bruises around her face as well as black eyes, causing her to cancel her performance at the Grammy Awards the following day.

Brown turned himself over to the police the same day and apologized for his behavior. In his 2017 documentary, Chris Brown: Welcome to My Life, he says:

“My trust totally was lost with her.”

He continued:

“She hated me after that. I tried everything. She didn’t care. She just didn’t trust me after that. From there, it just went downhill because there were too many verbal fights, physical fights as well. Mutual sides.”

Brown was arrested and charged with felony assault, to which he pled guilty. He accepted a plea deal of six months of community service, five years of probation, and one year of domestic violence counseling, along with a five-year restraining order to stay over 50 yards away from Rihanna.

In February 2011, the restraining order was revoked, and to the surprise of many, the couple rekindled their relationship in 2012. Rihanna spoke to Oprah Winfrey about their relationship in 2012:

“We’ve built a trust again, and that’s it. We love each other, and we probably always will.”

However, the couple broke up again for good by May 2013. But they have stayed close friends and supported each other on social media over the years. Both have moved on, and Rihanna is currently in a relationship with rapper A$AP Rocky, with whom she shares two sons.

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Chris Brown: A History of Violence - Where is the singer now?

Chris Brown, the subject of the documentary Chris Brown: A History of Violence, currently resides in Tarzana, California. The singer has three children with different mothers - daughter Royalty, born in 2014; son Aeko, born in 2019; and daughter Lovely, born in 2022, the latter with his girlfriend Diamond Brown.

Brown has sued Warner Bros. and Ample Entertainment for $500 million recently over Chris Brown: A History of Violence, claiming libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress through defamatory claims. Warner Bros. is yet to respond to the lawsuit.

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For more details, watch Chris Brown: A History of Violence on Investigation Discovery.