Rihanna shocked at outrage caused by Chris Brown duet

Rihanna has revealed that she never considered recording a duet with ex-boyfriend Chris Brown would cause such controversy.

In a new interview with Esquire magazine, the singer claims the reaction to the track caught her 'off-guard' and was shocked when many people considered her musical reunion with Brown, who beat her up in 2009, a negative event. The duo appeared together on a remix of her 'Birthday Cake' track earlier this year.

"The whole thing caught me a little off-guard, to be honest," she tells the magazine. "Especially the amount of negative attention. Because it never occurred to me how this was going to be a problem, you know. It really didn't."

"I thought people were gonna be surprised that we finally did a record together, but I didn't see how people could think it was a bad thing, you know?," she added. "In my mind, it was just music."

When it was suggested that she was sending the wrong message to fans, Rihanna is said to have reacted angrily.

"I mean, if I went back to him [as a girlfriend], then that's a whole different discussion," she continued. "And if I ever do, then that's something that y'all have to talk to me about when – if – that ever happens. Until then, look at it for what it is. I think a lot of people jumped to an assumption that was incorrect and they ended up looking stupid."