NEW YORK – Chris Brown apologized for his destructive tantrum at "Good Morning America" earlier this week, explaining that he was surprised that his attack on Rihanna was brought up during his interview and needed to "let out steam" after getting upset.
"I didn't physically hurt anyone; I didn't try to hurt anyone. I just wanted to release the anger that I had inside of me because I felt like I worked so hard for this music and I love my fans and I love to be able to make positive music, but I felt like people kept just trying to take it away from me," he told the audience at BET's "106 & Park" on Wednesday evening.
ABC News said the 21-year-old singer smashed a window in his dressing room Tuesday after he was interviewed by "GMA" co-host Robin Roberts on the show. Brown was promoting his new album, "F.A.M.E.," out this week, but Roberts touched on his beating of then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009 during an interview before his scheduled performance.
"I kind of kept my composure throughout the whole interview. Although you could see me upset, I kept my composure, did my performance," Brown said. "When I got back I just let out steam in the back."
Brown said that the show had sent his team a list of "talking points" for the interview, and that it was his understanding that the focus would be about the album.
"As the interview proceeded, it was kind of thrown off," he said. "I felt like they told us this so they could get us on the show to exploit me, that's what I thought. So, I took it very, very hard."
However, Roberts and ABC News said Brown was aware of the direction of the interview.
"Chris Brown was invited on 'Good Morning America' to perform and to be interviewed. There were no talking points offered," ABC News said in a statement.
Brown offered apologies to "anybody who was startled in the office, anybody who was offended or really ... disappointed in my actions, because I was disappointed in the way I acted."
However, he noted that he didn't harm anyone physically - and didn't try to either.
Brown - once considered one of pop's bright new stars - is still struggling to burnish his image after it was seriously tarnished by his attack on Rihanna on the eve of the Grammys two years ago. He pleaded guilty to a felony and was sentenced to five years' probation. The judge in the case has lauded his progress in domestic violence counseling and other matters, and with Rihanna's consent, a restraining order in the case was eased.
After disappointing sales of 2009's CD, "Graffiti," released several months after the attack, he rebounded last year with the success of the song "Deuces," a No. 1 R&B hit. He's gotten radio airplay with songs from his newest CD and had been embraced more in the mainstream, where he was previously shunned: He performed on "Saturday Night Live" in February and was scheduled to appear next week on ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."
Brown said he was now trying to focus on the positive, and asked his fans not to send any threats to Roberts.
"We don't need that," Brown said. "We need to take a stand and be more positive."
For her part, Roberts was ready to turn the page on the episode as well.
"It's time to move on ... we wish him the absolute best."
Copyright © 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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