Brown issues apology for Rihanna assault

Chris Brown has apologised to his fans for assaulting ex-girlfriend Rihanna, insisting that legal issues had prevented him from speaking out sooner.

The R&B star pleaded guilty to attacking Rihanna earlier this year. After striking a plea deal, he was sentenced to five years' probation, 180 days of community service and ordered to complete a domestic violence course.

In a video message posted on his official website, the 20-year-old singer described the incident as "inexcusable" and admitted that he was "very sad and very ashamed" of what he had done.

"I cannot go into what happened, and most importantly, I'm not going to sit here and make any excuses. I take great pride in me being able to exercise self-control and what I did was inexcusable," he said.

Brown went on to say that he had "told Rihanna countless times" that he was "truly, truly sorry" and insisted that he had done a "lot of soul searching over the past several months" in an attempt to understand why the incident occurred.

"No-one is more disappointed than in me than I am. As many of you know, I grew up in a home where there was domestic violence and I saw firsthand what uncontrolled rage could do," he added.

"What I did was unacceptable, 100%. I can only ask and pray that you forgive me, please. I hope that others learn from my mistakes. I intend to live my life so that I am truly worthy of the term 'role model'."

> Rihanna 'did not want Brown stay-away order'