Chris Brown Breaks Silence on Rihanna Assault: "That's Not Who I Pride Myself on Being"

Footage from R&B star's first interview on incident with Larry King makes its way online; Brown says he was shocked by his behavior

If you think Chris Brown's fans were floored when they heard about his assault of Rihanna, well, their shock had nothing on the R&B star's.

That is, if his first interview about the incident—set to air on Larry King Live's hallowed, softball-lined halls Wednesday—is to be believed.

A short (and we mean short) portion of Brown's interview with the suspender king, recorded at CNN's Hollywood HQ last Wednesday, was released online this morning in which Brown, flanked by his contrite and supportive mother, Joyce Hawkins, and attorney Mark Geragos, revealed that he had no recollection of the bloody altercation earlier this year.

"No, I don't," he said, when asked whether he remembers brutally beating up his superstar ex-girlfriend. "It's like, it's crazy to me. I'm like, wow."

Equally wow-worthy? Brown's revelation to People that he's still in love with Rihanna.

"I never fell out of love with her," he said. "That just wouldn't go away."

Brown, who told the magazine he was "distraught" over his behavior and "broke down" in front of his mother, said that he did not feel he was part of the cycle of abuse he witnessed as a child, claiming to be different from his stepfather, who regularly abused his mom.

"I feel like he enjoyed it. He was an abuser. It was continuous."

And while Brown's indefensible behavior was not a one-time deal, he is still apparently having a hard time coming to grips with himself.

"I just look at it like, wow, I'm in shock, 'cause first of all, that's not who I am as a person," Brown told King, when asked what he thinks after he hears the gory details of the police report taken on the scene last February. "And that's not who I pride myself on being.

"When I look at the police reports or I hear about the police reports, I don't know what to think. I just don't know what to think. It's just like, wow."

Wow, indeed. Clearly, he's a man of few words. Here's hoping one of them is "sorry."

Equally flummoxed by the beating is Brown's mother, who told King she was "totally shocked, totally upset about the situation, because I know Chris has never been a violent person."

The rest of Brown's conciliatory musings can be seen in full on Wednesday night.

(Originally published on Aug. 31, 2009 at 7:15 a.m. PT)