NOVEMBER 03: Singer Rihanna leaves her Gramercy Park hotel on November 03, 2009 in New York City. (Photo by Ray Tamarra/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Rihanna

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During the portion of the interview, Rihanna says that she had troubles coming out with her side of the story because "there are a lot of women who experienced what I did, but not in public. It made it really difficult. Here it goes, my little bit of privacy was exposed. It's something nobody wants anybody to know. So here I am."

She says she was "embarrassed" by the situation because she "didn't want people to think that's the kind of person... I fell in love with that person," a love "so unconditional that I went back," Rihanna said, adding that it's"humiliating to say this happened. To accept that? It's a traumatizing experience." When Sawyer said many women often go back to their abusive boyfriends several times, Rihanna chimes in with her own personal number: "Eight or nine, actually."

There had been reports of previous domestic violence instances between Brown and Rihanna via her police report from that February night, but this is the first time she's acknowledged such a high number.

"I stayed. I even went back after he beat me, which was wrong ... I'm a human being and people put me on a very unrealistic pedestal," Rihanna tells Sawyer. "I'm not perfect. It's pretty natural for that to be the first reaction. It's completely normal to go back and start lying to yourself. The minute the physical wounds