Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images Oprah Winfrey won't be interviewing Rihanna this week, but the 21-year-old star's presence will be felt.
The daytime queen, who last week advised Rihanna and boyfriend Chris Brown to seek counseling, plans to devote this Thursday's episode of the Oprah Winfrey Show to dating violence.
Winfrey said the episode, which will include guest diva Tyra Banks, is "dedicated to all the Rihannas of the world."
Brown has been charged with assaulting and threatening Rihanna last month and is facing prison time if convicted on both counts. His arraignment has been postponed until April 6, purportedly so his attorneys can continue to try to hammer out a plea deal with prosecutors.
Winfrey, not one to be shy about taking a stand on a potentially polarizing issue or offering unsolicited advice, has already addressed Rihanna on the air.
"Love doesn't hurt," Winfrey said into the camera last Friday. "I've been saying this to women for years: Love doesn't hurt. And if a man hits you once, he will hit you again. He will hit you again. I don't care what his plea is."
Considering the virulently public nature of Rihanna's case, Winfrey certainly isn't the only one using the opportunity to draw attention to domestic-violence issues.
A day after Brown's arrest, the National Organization for Women released a statement reminding that violence knows no racial or class boundaries.
"Everyone is talking about this case because it involves two popular recording artists, but the sad reality is that domestic violence and dating violence happen every day, even among young teens, and the impact is both far-reaching and underreported," NOW President Kim Gandy said last month.
"We're using this as a teachable moment for young people," Patti Giggans, executive director of Peace Over Violence, a sexual and domestic violence prevention center in Los Angeles, told USA Today recently. "For everybody, actually."