Commentary: Rihanna, Chris Brown ‘Cake’ collab ‘middle finger’ to fans

"Brown resumed punching Robyn F. and she interlocked her fingers behind her head and brought her elbows forward to protect her face. She then bent over at the waist, placing her elbows and face near her lap in [an] attempt to protect her face and head from the barrage of punches being levied upon her by Brown."

This is from the police report that was released after R&B artist Chris Brown beat up his then-girlfriend, pop sensation Rihanna, born Robyn Fenty. For a woman who was beaten so badly, you'd think she'd have learned at least one thing: self-respect.

Apparently that has all gone out the window when a chance to snatch another No. 1 single from her latest album, "Talk That Talk," came along. After a week and a half of rumors, Rihanna and her former beau tweeted the download links to remixes of "Turn Up The Music" and "Birthday Cake." Not only is this desperation at its finest, it's repulsive.

I guess Rihanna forgot that Brown "punched her in the left eye with his right hand … continued to punch her in the face with his right hand … The assault caused Robyn F.'s mouth to fill with blood and blood to splatter all over her clothing and the interior of the vehicle." I guess Rihanna forgot how she spoke out against going back to your abuser to millions of people. I guess Rihanna doesn't care that thousands of her fans on Twitter are unfollowing her and tweeting pictures of them burning and breaking her albums in protest to this collaboration.

In the words of Rihanna herself: "Chiefin' while ppl spend hrs on letters... *kanye shrug* #phuckit." Why should we care if she doesn't?

I'll tell you why: There are millions of abuse victims that actually looked up to Miss Fenty and held her up as a beacon of strength and hope in the face of adversity and hateful violence. Despite her mostly trashy lyrics and illiterate manner of tweeting, Rihanna was, for a brief time, a symbol to many women.

But because she's young, rebellious and self-centered, she threw away the chance to be something more than a sexual singer for a cheap publicity stunt and possible reconciliation with a man who nearly beat her to death and threatened to kill her.

I, myself, have said that the celebrity role model died when Britney Spears buzzed her head and that parents shouldn't be looking to celebrities to raise their kids. However, this is a different situation. No one is asking Rihanna to be a role model — we're just asking for a little self-respect. Collaborating with your abuser isn't showing forgiveness, it's showing that you're weak and have no tact.

And for anyone who says I've never been in Rihanna's shoes so how could I know what she's going through, I won't go into my own past in detail, but yes I have and I'm still not over it, so how could she be? Maybe this was a big f--- you to the media and all her haters, but in reality, that middle finger was felt most by her fans and former fans like myself, who will never look at her the same.