Rihanna Cooperates with Investigators; T.I. and Kanye West Speak Out

February 25, 2009

The fallout from Chris Brown's alleged midnight altercation with Rihanna continues to rain down on the 19-year-old singer's once-promising career. A police source tells the Los Angeles Times that – contrary to some media reports – the 20-year-old Barbados-born beauty is helping authorities build a domestic violence case against her boyfriend.

LAPD Detective Deshon Andrews told CNN that he will be handing the case over to the district attorney's office Tuesday afternoon. Brown, who was booked on a felony criminal threat charge Sunday night, could face more charges when that happens.

Meanwhile, a source close to the couple tells People that Rihanna is currently in "a safe place" following the incident, in which the source claims, "Chris knocked her around. Black eye, blood, bruises. She had to be treated by a doctor." TMZ.com reports that police photos taken of Rihanna at the scene show contusions on both sides of her face, a bloody nose, a split lip and bite marks on one of her arms and several of her fingers.

Brown has pulled out of an NBA all-stars event scheduled for Sunday in Phoenix, AZ, while Rihanna has postponed a concert in Malaysia that was scheduled for Friday.

While Rihanna and Brown's lawyers and reps remain mum, celebrities have begun speaking out about the developing situation. On Last Call With Carson Daily, rapper T.I. showed his support for pal Brown, saying, "I spoke to him today. He's cool, you know. He's a little concerned about the situation, but he's still the same Chris. I told him, 'This too shall pass.'"

Kanye West expressed a different sentiment on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show this morning. Of his former tour mate, West said, "I was completely devastated during [my Grammy] performance. Rihanna is so important to our culture, to pop music. I feel like she is the most important artist in music and has the most potential. Her taste level and her age ... she has the potential to be the greatest artist of all time. In that sense, I feel like that's my baby sis. I would do any and everything to help her in any situation."

West added, "All I want to say is, it's so devastating. Just as a person, I don't care how famous she is or even if she just worked at McDonald's, that should never happen. It should never come to that place."