Chris Brown blames his public relations team for the disastrous video apology he posted online following his attack on ex-girlfriend Rihanna.
The disgraced singer broke his silence about the pre-Grammy bust-up in July, five months after the headline-grabbing incident, addressing the violent fight in a two-minute internet video.
In the footage, Brown admitted he was "very ashamed" of his "inexcusable" actions, but claimed he had been warned to keep quiet about the case for the sake of his own career.
He told fans, "Since February my attorney has advised me not to speak out, even though ever since the incident I wanted to publicly express my deepest regret and accept full responsibility. Although I will do some interviews and answer questions in the future, I felt it was time that you heard directly from me that I'm sorry."
Brown was widely criticized for appearing to read his lines from a teleprompter with his detractors accusing him of being insincere in his apology. But the Kiss Kiss hitmaker insists he meant every word - it just came across wrongly because his thoughts had been jumbled by all the PR advice he had been given.
He told TV newswoman Robin Roberts, "I had three or four days of PR and people telling me, 'OK, don't say this or don't say this because they're gonna take it this way.' So my head was not really giving me a chance to be me, it was me being me through other people. It was genuinely from me but it wasn't projected correctly."
Brown was sentenced to five months' probation in July after pleading guilty to hitting Rihanna. He was also ordered to complete community service and stay away from the Bajan star for the duration of his probation. The interview aired in the U.S. on Friday as part of news show 20/20.
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