Rihanna 'bruised, bleeding, bitten' - reports

Last updated 11:54 10/02/2009

Reuters

CHARGED: Chris Brown has been arrested and charged with making criminal threats against a woman thought to be his girlfriend, pop star Rihanna.

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Popular R&B singer Chris Brown has been arrested on suspicion of attacking a woman widely reported to be his girlfriend Rihanna, who was allegedly left bruised, bleeding and even bitten.

The clean-cut Brown, 19, one of the fastest-rising stars of the last two years, was free on US$50,000 bail, a day after the couple hurriedly cancelled separate performances at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.

Both the Brown and Rihanna camps have remained silent on the issue.

Police sources told the Los Angeles Times and celebrity website TMZ.com that the woman who reported she had been attacked by Brown in the early house of Sunday was 20-year-old Rihanna, singer of hits Umbrella and Disturbia.

The fallout began today with chewing gum maker Wrigley suspending a commercial featuring Brown.

It said it was "concerned by the serious allegations" made against Brown, who was booked by police on suspicion of making a felony criminal threat.

The company said that while Brown should be afforded due legal process "we have made the decision to suspend the current advertising featuring Brown ... until the matter is resolved."

Brown, who was competing against Rihanna in a Grammy category, was a spokesman for Doublemint gum and his hit song Forever was part of that advertising campaign.

The incident appeared to be out of character for Brown, who has been dating Barbados-born Rihanna for about a year and helped produce her album. They recently performed together at two sold out shows in Auckland.

She was variously reported to have been left bruised, bleeding and even bitten in the attack, which took place shortly after she and Brown left a pre-Grammy party in Beverly Hills on Saturday night.

Police said the woman "suffered visible injuries" in the incident, which started in a car and continued as both parties got out.

Los Angeles prosecutors are considering whether to formally charge Brown, who could face up to three years in prison if convicted, legal sources said.

Celebrity website Radaronline quoted an unidentified eyewitness who said she had seen Rihanna being treated at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on Saturday.

"Rihanna was clearly very upset by what happened and I could hear her screaming. Rihanna was trying to get her point across about something. She sounded like she was crying," the eyewitness told Radaronline.com.

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TMZ.com reported Rihanna received treatment for "contusions and bite marks".

A source told People.com: "They've been fighting a lot lately. Lots of ups and downs. One second they're all lovey dovey and then they're fighting like crazy. They're both pretty stubborn."

Rihanna's publicist issued a brief statement on Sunday saying: "Rihanna is well. Thank you for concern and support."

Fans of both Rihanna and Brown, who made his name at age 16 with the single Run It, were shocked by the incident.

People magazine pondered what had gone wrong, calling it a "Fairy-tale romance gone awry".

One of hundreds of postings on the Us Weekly website said; "I just don't understand. it's so out of character of him. i really want to know the real story. i just can't believe he beat some girl. doesn't seem like him what so ever."

- Reuters