According to Billboard, Chris Brown has publicly apologized for the incident where he apparently hit Rihanna after a pre-Grammy Awards party.

In a round-about way, this seems to confirm that Brown was responsible for hitting his girlfriend. As you might expect, the statement was released by his publicist. This would be in large part to keep him away from the media and to limit the already substantial damage to Brown’s career. A number of advertisers and sponsors have now dropped Brown from their campaigns because of his new image as the poster boy for domestic violence.

The statement reads:

Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired. I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God’s help, to emerging a better person.

Much of what has been speculated or reported on blogs and-or reported in the media is wrong.

I wrote last week on my Unreality Shout blog that I suspected the celebrity press were fabricating a lot of the reports around this situation. There’s certainly enough to confirm that there was an argument between Chris and Rihanna – especially after this statement – but still, claiming that he beat her with an UMBRELLA was just ridiculous.

Surely the situation is scandalous enough without making shit up? The celebrity press have once again proved themselves to be heartless vultures in the reporting of this incident. There’s obviously no such thing as sensitivity or tact in that industry.

In all honesty, I hope Chris gets help for this. And it goes without saying that he’s going to pay for his actions. Not only will this get dragged through the courts, but it’ll get dragged through the media and cost him more in damage to his reputation and loss of earnings. I’m sure it’s a sobering experience.