Chris Brown has broken up with his girlfriend Karrueche Tran, and he says his friendship with Rihanna is the reason.
Brown announced the split Thursday in a statement through his publicist. “I have decided to be single to focus on my career. I love Karrueche very much but I don’t want to see her hurt over my friendship with Rihanna,” he said. “I’d rather be single allowing us to both be happy in our lives.”
The timing says a lot. On Wednesday night, Chris Brown and Rihanna were spotted sitting next to each other at Jay Z’s concert at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and a concertgoer’s photo showed his arm draped around the back of her chair. The two were also seen getting close at a New York City hangout earlier in the week. Karrueche was in New York too, but she wasn’t at the show.
Karrueche didn’t stay silent. On Tuesday she tweeted, “There’s a difference between a man and a boy.” By Wednesday it was just two words: “Bye baby.”
Breezy has been circling back to Rihanna for months now, from their “Birthday Cake” remix to their moment at the MTV Video Music Awards, so this breakup was a long time coming. Karrueche had to see it too.
Brown and Karrueche had been together for more than a year. He is also still on probation for assaulting Rihanna in 2009, which is exactly why so many people are side eyeing this reunion.
Karrueche will be just fine. She’s young, she’s gorgeous and she’s a lot more than Chris Brown’s ex. The question now is whether this “friendship” with Rihanna is really just a friendship.
