Rihanna Has Her Tina Moment

Rihanna was discharged from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Monday night in a clandestine operation that involved a back exit and a decoy to throw off the media, reports E! News.

The pop star, who is now reportedly back in her Barbados hometown, was hospitalized for injuries suffered during an assault early Sunday morning, allegedly at the hands of her boyfriend, singer Chris Brown.

By all media accounts, Rihanna's face is badly beaten. Our law enforcement source said Sunday night that she resembled the battered Tina Turner in "What's Love Got to Do With It." A source for TMZ.com said the bruises made her "look like an MMA fighter or something."

Her specific injuries, however, have yet to be confirmed. Police sources for TMZ and People.com said Rihanna came to the hospital Sunday morning with two huge red and blue contusions, which swelled up on both sides of her forehead, a swollen, split lip and a bloody nose.


Brown was arrested Sunday evening and charged with suspicion of making criminal threats in which a victim "is in fear for [his/her] life." Police say more charges, including one for domestic violence, could be tacked on when the case is handed over to the L.A. District Attorney's Office.

Brown and Rihanna began arguing while riding in his rented Lamborghini following Clive Davis's pre-Grammy party Saturday night. The fight escalated and became physical when they got out of the car.

A source for E! Online says Rihanna has been reluctant to reveal to investigators specifically what the couple had been arguing about before it turned ugly, but the Los Angeles Times says the Barbados-born singer is cooperating with the authorities' investigation.


E! News is also reporting that a source close to the investigation told them that Rihanna has alleged to police that Brown choked her while threatening to kill her and, subsequently, she lost consciousness.


According to the source, her right eye was blackened and badly swollen and she had hand prints on her arms. The responding officers were so concerned about her, they drove Rihanna to the hospital in their squad car instead of waiting for an ambulance.


Officers took two sets of photographs of the beaten singer, one at the scene and the second after she was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for treatment. Those photos were presumably among the evidence presented to the D.A.

Although a motive for the alleged beating has not been reported, a source for gossip blogger Janet Charlton says "Rihanna had supposedly found numbers in Chris's phone that he shouldn't have. She grabbed the car keys and pretended to toss them out the window. He freaked out and let her have it. And we also heard this has happened before."


Meanwhile, Rihanna has postponed her scheduled Feb. 13 concert in Malaysia. The singer's Los Angeles-based representatives informed Malaysia's Pineapple Concerts that the show would have to be rescheduled to an unspecified date "in light of recent events involving Rihanna." The artist had been slated to visit Indonesia and Malaysia on her "Good Girl Gone Bad" tour.


Also cancelled due to recent events is Rihanna's planned 21st birthday party, which was to take place at a club in New York City. E! Online reported: "The bash for about 200 or so guests was to have had a carnival theme with various 'sideshow' attractions. Although organizers were having difficulty securing sponsors for the party because of the economy, a source says Cîroc vodka had already or was about to sign on as the leading sponsor."


"They were talking about it being at Gotham Hall, but I don't think it was definite just yet," the source told E!.