Chris Brown dumps girlfriend for 'friendship' with Rihanna

Chris Brown has confronted wide speculation about the status of his relationship with Rihanna by dumping girlfriend Karrueche Tran. ...

Chris Brown has confronted wide speculation about the status of his relationship with Rihanna by dumping girlfriend Karrueche Tran.

That's one way to, uh, clarify what's been happening with Brown and RiRi, as months and months of increased time spent together — and finally a reported makeout session in New York on Monday — have had fans and the industry buzzing.

"I have decided to be single to focus on my career," Brown said in a statement via his publicist (CNN noted his thoughts came unsolicited).

"I love Karrueche very much, but I don't want to see her hurt over my friendship with Rihanna. I'd rather be single, allowing us to both be happy in our lives."

That Brown would categorize himself and Rihanna as friends is something of a corroboration. When she sat down with Oprah in August, Rihanna confessed she still loved Breezy, but said they were only pals thanks to his relationship with Karrueche. 

That's no longer an issue.

"Bye baby," Tran, a model, said simply in a Wednesday tweet. 

Following Monday's kissing incident, which allegedly went down at Manhattan nightclub Griffin, Brown and Rihanna attended a Jay-Z concert Tuesday at Brooklyn's just-opened Barclays Center.

Fan photographs of the outing saw Brown wrapping his arm around Rihanna's chair, not touching in the pictures but certainly not far apart.

Brown is still on probation from his 2009 assault of the "Umbrella" singer, an incident that left her face considerably bruised, ended their public romance and continues to inspire criticism of both young stars over their enduring friendship. 

Rihanna says she's still in love

For Rihanna, a Sunday sit-down on "Oprah's Next Chapter" might well have been called "A Whole New Can of Worms."

The Barbados native revealed to Oprah Winfrey that she and ex-boyfriend Chris Brown have built a very close friendship, and that it is awkward for the singer to see him, as she's still in love with him.

"We're very, very close friends. We built a trust again and that's it. We love each other and we probably always will ... that's not something you can shut off, if you've ever been in love," she said (video below).

Rihanna tearfully recounted the February 2009 night when Brown attacked her, ending their relationship and sending a ripple through their fan and industry communities. Oprah, who visited Rihanna in her hometown, pressed on about rumors of the two recently spending time together.

"It's awkward because I still love him," she said of seeing Brown. "... My stomach drops and I have to maintain this poker face." 

Lingering feelings aside, Rihanna maintains that she's single and Brown is "in a relationship of his own," with model Karrueche Tran.

While some factions of Rihanna Navy and Team Breezy, Rihanna's and Brown's respective legions of Twitter followers, have always expressed desire for a reconciliation, Rihanna said the path to forgiveness began in February when a court-mandated restraining order protecting her from Brown was lifted.

That led to a March musical collaboration on a remix of her track "Cake." The response was mixed at best.

It's interesting to note that, at the time of Brown's shocking attack — he pleaded guilty to felony assault — he criticized Oprah for not including him when she discussed the incident on her daytime talk show. Yet Oprah had some positive words for Rihanna's current outlook on Brown, in the context of her healing. 

"You forgiving him does not mean that you are weak or that you are a victim," she told Rihanna.

And don't think Rihanna and Oprah are the only ones with forgiveness on the brain. It seems a number of women agree. In a survey of 1,000 people conducted by social travel service Gogobot, Breezy was the top celeb that women 18-25 would like to vacation with.

Rihanna named sexiest woman alive

Rihanna, the 23-year-old Barbadian singer discovered by Jay-Z, has been named this year's sexiest woman alive by Esquire magazine.
Celebrating her glistening bod, fearless sense of style (which often consists of very little clothing) and boss-like attitude, the mag says she's transcended even Madonna in her pursuit of "carnal pop."
"At the end of a concert, I don't feel like I've been this sexy thing. Really, I don't even think about it," she says.
Clearly, someone does. In the nearly three years since her Grammys weekend assault by then-boyfriend Chris Brown, Rihanna has rewritten her narrative: from a victim out of an R&B standard to a multi-genre sexpot who (speaking of Madonna) has made unpredictability her one constant.
And nothing is more unpredictable then coming out in at least pseudo-support of Brown -- she says she's let go of past resentment.
"It's incredible to see how he pulled out of it the way he did. Even when the world seemed like it was against him, you know?" she told the mag.
Yeah, we know. 
"I really like the music he's putting out. I'm a fan of his stuff. I've always been a fan. Obviously, I had some resentment toward him for a while, for obvious reasons. But I've put that behind me," she said.
Check out a video of Rihanna's Esquire cover shoot below, and give us your thoughts on her sexy, resentment-free self in comments.