On the way to Febraury’s Grammy awards ceremony, Chris Brown and Rihanna had an argument which became violent, with Brown hitting, choking and biting his girlfriend. Brown was eventually sentenced to five years probation and six months community service, while Rihanna maintained a silence on the incident. This week she broke that silence in an interview with Glamour magazine in which she revealed her hurt at the online reaction to the incident. When TMZ published pictures of a bruised and battered Rihanna two weeks after the assault, the public felt pity and the press went crazy, but poor Rihanna just felt disappointed and taken advantage of. "I felt like I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears," she said. "I felt like people were making it into a fun topic on the Internet, and it's my life." Now she hopes to make some good out of a bad situation. "Domestic violence is a big secret. The positive thing that has come out of my situation is that people can learn from that. I want to give as much insight as I can to young women, because I feel like I represent a voice that really isn't heard. Now I can help speak for those women.” Glamour magazine will present Rihanna with a Woman of the Year award at a ceremony next week

It was only weeks ago that that the miracle of modern video game technology made it possible for Kurt Cobain to be seen singing Bon Jovi, karaoke-style on Guitar Hero 5. Outraged Cobain fans, Courtney Love, the boys from Nirvana and even Bon Jovi themselves made their feelings known, but publishers Activision insisted they had secured the rights to use Cobain’s image. Now déjà vu is set to strike with Activision’s new game, Band Hero, facing similar criticisms. This time the band in question is No Doubt, who have filed a lawsuit against Activision arguing that the unrestricted use of the No Doubt avatars in Band Hero will turn the band into “virtual karaoke players.” Activision said they “…worked with No Doubt and the band’s management in developing Band Hero” and therefore have acted within their legal rights. But the band insist they never agreed to let avatars of themselves perform songs by other artists. In one example presented to court, they point out that having Gwen Stefani sing The Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Woman” depicts her “boasting about having sex with prostitutes.” Band Hero also reportedly allows Taylor Swift and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine to be used as avatars throughout the game, but those artists have yet to voice any objections.

Eminem is no stranger to controversy – in fact it’s fair to say he actively courts it – and his recent appearance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards certainly didn’t disappoint. The show featured a series of clips which were intended to showcase the rhyming talents of the best rappers in the business. However, when Slim took his turn at the mic after verses from Mos Def and Black Thought of The Roots, parts of his performance were hastily bleeped out by the show censors, leaving the viewers at home to piece together the offending phrase based on the gasps of the shocked studio audience. Since then, opinion has been divided on whether Eminem’s performance was masterful or a step too far; so, business as usual for the headline-grabbing rapper. His next opportunity to create a little scandal will be his scheduled performance as a nominee at the American Music Awards, which will be broadcast live on Sunday November 22. If the producers of that show weren’t already on the edge of their seats, they will be now.