Report: Rihanna Tells Cops Brown's Hit Her Before

Feb. 12, 2009 — -- If Chris Brown did indeed hit Rihanna early Sunday morning, it may not have been the first time.

According to TMZ.com, the pop star told cops that her R&B singer boyfriend had a history of abusing her before a weekend attack that reportedly left her bruised and bloodied, and the violence was getting progressively worse.

Us Weekly magazine also quoted unnamed sources close to Rihanna who claim this isn't the first time Brown's beaten and bruised her.

While representatives for Brown and Rihanna refuse to release details about the alleged altercation that reportedly landed her in the hospital and earned him a felony domestic abuse charge, rumors are swirling about what could have precipitated the fight.

One of the latest: Brown,19, was flirting with British singer Leona Lewis, and Rihanna, 20, flew into a rage.

According to the British paper the Daily Mirror, Brown was speaking to Lewis at a pre-Grammy party in Los Angeles hours before the late-night attack. While the conversation was innocent, it "set Rihanna off," according to an anonymous source quoted by the paper.

Other reports claim Rihanna got upset over a text message.

"He got a booty call. He got a text," an unnamed source told the New York Daily News. "Rihanna saw it and she got upset. They started to argue. She got out of the car. He wanted her to get back in, so he grabbed her. She pulled away. That's when she's told people he hit her."

Meanwhile, despite the abuse allegations against him, Brown was up for a trophy at the NAACP's annual awards ceremony tonight, as was Rihanna.

In the end, however, neither Brown nor Rihanna attended the awards and neither won. Jamie Foxx beat Brown for outstanding male artist, an award Brown won last year, and Beyonce beat Rihanna in the outstanding female artist category.

The NAACP did not immediately reply to ABCNews.com's request for comment before the ceremony.

Advertisers and radio stations have already backed away from the R&B singer. His "Got Milk" ad campaign will end this week.

"The Milk Mustache campaign is taking the allegations against Chris Brown very seriously," the company said in a statement. "We are very proud and protective of the image of the Milk Mustache campaign and the responsible message it sends to teens. Mr. Brown's ad was launched last fall and is scheduled to end this week."

Wrigley's announced Monday it would suspend its ad campaign featuring Brown as the spokesman for Doublemint gum.

"Wrigley is concerned by the serious allegations made against Chris Brown," the company said in a statement. "We believe Mr. Brown should be afforded the same due process as any citizen. However, we have made the decision to suspend the current advertising featuring Brown and any related marketing communications until the matter is resolved."

Radio stations in Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis have pulled Brown's music in light of the abuse allegations. Radio host Java Joel of Cleveland's 96.5 WAKS-FM said he stopped airing the songs Monday when outraged listeners called to criticize Brown, according to the station's Web site.

Though officials refuse to confirm whether Rihanna is the accuser in the domestic abuse case, members of the hip-hop world and Hollywood are rallying around her and Brown.

"I was completely devastated by the concept of what I heard," Kanye West said Tuesday on Ryan Seacrest's KIIS-FM radio show. "Rihanna is so important to our culture ... to pop music. ... Her taste level and her age. ... She has the potential to be the greatest artist of all time."

"In that sense, I feel like that's my baby sis," West said. "I would do any and everything to help her in any situation."

According to Us Weekly magazine, rap mogul Jay-Z, who discovered and mentored Rihanna, "hit the roof" when he found out about the alleged fight.

Actor Terrence Howard came to Brown's defense Tuesday, telling Hollywood.tv, "Chris is a great guy. He'll be all right. And Rihanna knows he loves her."

But Wednesday, he released a statement saying, "When they asked me about Chris Brown the other day, I was in no way aware of what he had been accused of. Had I known, I would have never had said something so insensitive."

Rapper T.I., who is set to begin a yearlong jail sentence for federal weapons charges next month, told "Last Call's" Carson Daly that he spoke with Brown Monday and that the singer's "cool."

"He cool, you know. I guess he a little concerned about the situation, but he's still the same Chris," T.I. said. "I told him this too shall pass."