Oprah Winfrey has scored another must-see TV interview, this time with bad girl pop diva Rihanna, who takes Oprah back to her neighborhood in Barbados and breaks down in front of the talk show queen about her relationship when she discusses her break-up with Chris Brown.
Oprah has released promo trailers of her “Oprah’s Next Chapter” interview with Rihanna, which airs on August 19. Oprah also released a video of herself talking about how Rihanna surprised her by how thoughtful and vulnerable she can be.
Though Rihanna seems to share with the world every emotion or thought she has through Twitter, she doesn’t often sit down for revealing interviews.
On the promo videos, Rihanna and Oprah are seen driving through the streets of Barbados and also visiting Rihanna’s old neighborhood. When they sit down do talk, Rihanna opens up. About her famous breakup with Chris Brown, who was arrested and pleaded guilty for assaulting her, Rihanna tearfully said, “It was embarrassing. It was humiliating. I lost my best friend,” the 24-year-old tells Winfrey.
“I was resentful, I held a grudge, I was dark,” she adds.
In addition to a musical collaboration between the two of them earlier this year, there have been numerous reports of late-night rendezvous in the French Riviera aboard fancy yachts.
In her own promotional video talking about her trip, Oprah directly addresses the camera and says, “I went there with my own ideas about who she was. I thought she was going to be a bad ass, a hard edge rocker, pop woman. Nothing could have been farther from the truth.”
Oprah says, “She was thoughtful”—then the camera cuts to Rihanna saying, “I’m super duper afraid of the pedastal that comes with fame.”
Oprah says, “She was very emotional”—then the camera cuts to a clip of Rihanna crying.
Oprah says, “She was vulnerable”—the camera cuts to Rihanna saying, “It’s amazing how lonely you can feel.”
“She pushes the edge a lot and there’s a reason for that; and I came away getting a great sense of who she was. I was surprised at how good a driver she was,” Oprah says, as the screen shows Rihanna driving the two of them through Barbados.
“This is how you know who somebody is, how people react to them,” Oprah says as the screen shows Rihanna hugging an older friend from the neighborhood. “Going back to the neighborhood, it wasn’t like this was a big superstar, mega star, pop star had returned to the neighborhood. It was just Robin—as though she had gone to the grocery store and came back. It was great. It was great to see. I hope you’ll join me for a really get-down conversation with Rihanna.”
