The Los Angeles Times blog does a decent job of characterizing the alleged assault, but TMZ provides a rawness of detail that, if true, paints a much more alarming picture of the event. There are just so many unanswered questions in a delicate case and delicate issue. Here are The Buzz's thoughts on what took place according to the information on TMZ. Feel free to opine:
Was this the first time the two had gotten into it? The Buzz, based solely on feeling and coupled with the details provided above, doubts it.
If it was: Chris Brown, what made you respond in this way? "Getting caught in the moment" or being "stupid" isn't going to cut it.
If it was: Rihanna, why not get out of the car? 'Why are you with him still?' might seem natural, but the sad reality is plenty of people stay in abusive relationships for myriad reasons and its unfair to just toss out the "Why don't you just leave him" card in certain respects.
Was the car still in motion? If yes, this kid is obviously a bit out of his mind. If not and if this is not the first time battery has taken place, why not extract yourself from that situation? It is absolutely not her job to diffuse that situation—he doesn't need to be getting physical with her—but if that's where the altercation is headed and he seems hell bent on her leaving the vehicle, at what point is a person accountable for their own self-preservation? Dealing strictly in those terms, bringing the seatbelt into play as the catalyst for further abuse is odd. We'll definitely need to hear more about this.
Did calling the assistant lead to further injury? In close quarters. A physically-dominant individual is clearly in a rage. Should you call someone to call the police on your behalf? Yes; you're trying to preserve your life, but does making such a call in those situations only make a person fly further into a rage? Again this is not a "she brought that on herself" rant. ABSOLUTELY NOT. It's pondering the situation as it occurred. Would it have been better just to call 911 directly? Considering what took place after the phone call, probably not.
Chris Brown, WHERE WAS/IS YOUR BRAIN? This just seemed to bear repeating. People get angry. We all know that. But Chris: you can't hit women, regardless of how angry they make you and regardless of the fact that they are allowed to tee off on you. And while The Buzz would love a world where we truly believed and preached that no one should hit anyone regardless of sex, the fact of the matter is you allegedly beat a female, bit her and nearly choked her out after having tried to kick her out of the car. Some are going to say she invited this by going through your phone. For all we know, the physicality began with her mushing you after going through your phone. Doesn't matter. Your job in this situation was to be outraged, punch the steering wheel a few times and let out a stream of obscenities. That's it. Not beat, bite and choke. Not flee the scene. Not jet-ski while cheesing happily.* Not a good look.
*It strikes The Buzz as odd that no one seems to be mentioning Diddy's role in giving refuge to Brown at this time. Sure; Rihanna's there too and they're "reconciling," but one can't help but feel like this shelter is for Chris Brown, which strikes us as odd that Diddy would do that. But then again, maybe it's not at all.
The Buzz has maintained that Chris Breezy's going to skate on these charges. What say you, Buzzonians?