Rihanna seeks tweaks to restraining order
Singer Rihanna performs on MTV's "The Seven" in Times Square. (Nov. 15, 2010) Credit: Getty Images
R&B star Rihanna has requested that the restraining order keeping her former boyfriend, singer Chris Brown, away from her, be modified to allow them to have contact.
Two years after the Grammy-night altercation of Feb. 8, 2009, which led to Brown's arrest a month later and his subsequently pleading guilty to felony assault for beating her, Rihanna has given her attorney, Donald Etra, the go-ahead to have the order lowered to level one, E! News reported Thursday. This would allow Rihanna, 22, and Brown, 21, to have contact as long as Brown does not annoy, molest or harass her, the site said.
Brown's lawyer, Mark Geragos, has been informed of her decision and needs to go before the court to have the order modified by a judge, E! said.
On Jan. 28, Brown attended a progress-report hearing on the case, where Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg announced that Brown had completed his yearlong domestic-violence class "in fine fashion."
Geragos at that time had asked that the restraining order be dropped altogether, saying, "It makes it difficult at award shows and such." It was Schnegg who suggested a modification to the order.
Rihanna is scheduled to perform at the Grammy Awards Sunday, and though Brown is nominated in three categories, he will not be attending the ceremony at the Staples Center in Los Angeles because of a prior commitment scheduled months ago.
For her part Rihanna appears to have moved on past Brown and past her most recent boyfriend, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp, with whom she broke up around December. Internet reports Thursday said she now has begun dating Travis Barker of Blink-182.
