Chris Brown had "no soul in his eyes" during Rihanna attack

Rihanna says Chris Brown had "no soul in his eyes" when he attacked her.

The pop star fought back tears as she recalled the night the R'n'B singer assaulted her in his car after a pre-Grammy Awards party in February. She said her on/off boyfriend Chris was so angry he "blacked-out" to the point where she didn't recognise him.

"I just kept thinking, 'When is it going to stop?' " she told Diane Sawyer. "He had no soul in his eyes. Just blank. He was clearly blacked-out. There was no person when I looked at him."

The 21-year-old singer revealed she and Chris started arguing when he received a text message from another woman.

"I caught him in a lie," she said. "And he wouldn't tell the truth. And I wouldn't drop it. I couldn't take that he kept lying to me, and he couldn't take that I wouldn't drop it. It escalated into him being violent towards me. And it was ugly."

After she escaped from the attack, Rihanna found herself wandering down the street "battered and bleeding".

She said: "I got out of the car and walked, walking in a gown and a bloody face. I didn't have a plan. That whole night was not part of my plan. I was battered, I was bleeding, I was swollen in my face."

Despite her horrific injuries, and her "embarrassment" over the incident, Rihanna admits she still has "love" for Chris, even though they are no longer a couple.

"Love doesn't go away right away," she said. "He didn't accept that very well. Obviously he didn't want us to be apart. But I had to make a decision for me.

"I don't hate him at all. I actually love and care about him. I want him to do well, have a great career, have a great life and grow up. And just take this as something you had to go through to grow up and learn."

Chris was sentenced to five years' probation and six months' community labour following the incident. He was also barred from contacting the singer for five years and told to attend domestic violence classes for 52 weeks.