The Initiation of Rihanna and Chris Brown

It’s already old news now. A few hours before this year’s Grammys, the biggest night in American music, pop star Rihanna was physically attacked and injured in a domestic altercation with her boyfriend, R&B sensation Chris Brown. That lead to roughly two hours in the hospital for the pop princess, followed shortly by a temporary return home to Barbados to recuperate while Brown was charged with two counts of domestic assault and released on $50,000 bail.

Before the events on that night, both Rihanna and Chris were still in their freshman years of show business. As fresh faces in the industry, both still had clean records with the public. Sweet, innocent, fresh and untested by bad publicity and heavy criticism from the media. They were, in manner of speaking, good kids. Neither had yet given the newshounds much reason to dig deep into their private lives for possible skeletons in the closet and except for a few snapshots together that appeared some magazines, in which they were usually happy, seldom gave the tabloids much to talk about.

In Hollywood, one bad piece of news is all it usually takes to rob an entertainer of his/her innocence and the days of innocence may be over now for Rihanna and Chris, especially if the reports are true that they have gotten back together. In an instant, their show business cherries have been burst fully open. Chris is officially a bad boy and if Rihanna has indeed taken him back she will soon be joining Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie and Britney Spears as Hollywood’s “Girls Gone Wild”.

But this is far from spelling doom for either of their careers. While there has been public outrage toward Chris Brown for harming a pop princess and while there is criticism toward Rihanna for taking him back, this is what the public likes. The public likes to know that celebrities are just as prone to trouble and mistakes and bad decisions as the rest of us. In Hollywood, bad publicity is very often a real good career move for young, new stars like Rihanna and Chris.

No, this is NOT a cheerful thumbs-up to Chris for striking a woman. Surely, he could’ve picked a better route to Bad Boy status. I’m sure Snoop Dog or Sean Combs could’ve given him some advice. And in my opinion, being so quick to take back an abusive partner isn’t going to make Rihanna a good role model for the throngs of young American girls who worship.

Then again, when has Hollywood ever been a good source for role models for our youth?

Just as the public loves bad news, celebrities, in a sort of perverse way, need bad publicity from time to time to show that they are human. Although Chris is being heavily criticized now for striking Rihanna and Rihanna is being criticized now for taking him back, both may have just made the moves that will firmly place them among show business elite.

And for that I say, welcome to the family, kids! I declare you both fully initiated. No hitting the paparazzi!