Rihanna’s father Ronald Fenty says he forgives his daughter’s ex-boyfriend Chris Brown for beating her during heated argument in 2009.
In a surprising statement, Ronald told The Mirror: “Chris will always have a place in our family and my heart.
“He respects me, calls me pops and I like him – despite what happened. He’s very talented and always humble.”
The pictures of Rihanna’s bruised face after the attack shocked the world and and Chris pleaded guilty to felony assault. The singer was also hit with a restraining order, which Rihanna later lifted in 2011 when they reconciled before splitting again.
Despite their on/off history Ronald has said that he’d be happy to see the couple back together, saying: “I’d support them being together.”
Speaking about his own reaction to the attack six years ago, Ronald revealed he wanted to fly to LA from his Barbados home to confront Chris himself: “I was angry but it’s a long way to go, I wanted to go,” he said.
“I was going to fly in, get picked up from LAX and ride to Chris’ place so I could do it myself.”
After finally drawing a line under their relationship, Rihanna told Vanity Fair last year that she and Chris are “not friends”.
“It’s not like we’re enemies…We don’t have much of a relationship now,” she added.