Rihanna on Chris Brown collab controversy: "The whole thing caught me a little off-guard"

She told Esquire, "The whole thing caught me a little off-guard, to be honest... Especially the amount of negative attention. Because it never occurred to me how this was going to be a problem, you know. It really didn't."

Earlier this year, Brown appeared on Rihanna's "Birthday Cake" remix, while she loaned her vocals to his remix of "Turn Up The Music".

The 24-year-old singer continued, "I thought people were gonna be surprised that we finally did a record together, but I didn't see how people could think it was a bad thing, you know? In my mind, it was just music.

"I mean, if I went back to him [as a girlfriend], then that's a whole different discussion... And if I ever do, then that's something that y'all have to talk to me about when – if – that ever happens. Until then, look at it for what it is. I think a lot of people jumped to an assumption that was incorrect and they ended up looking stupid."

Brown famously assaulted Rihanna on the eve of the 2009 Grammys.

Photo: Getty Images/Gareth Cattermole