Ne-Yo Speaks Out On Rihanna And Chris

Ne-Yo said he wanted to wait until he talked with his friends before offering up any words on the alleged altercation between singers Chris Brown and Rihanna.

While he hasn’t talked with Chris, he did chat with collaborator Rihanna, saying: “She says she’s fine. She didn’t go into detail about what happened. I understand it’s a painful situation; I didn’t push.”

“I saw the picture,” he said solemnly to MTV News. “That just really — that hurt me to my heart, man. Again, I still don’t know what happened, ’cause I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to Chris yet. But to take it to that level really hurt my heart. All I can say is, I’m praying for both of them. They’re both in my prayers. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Chris yet. I just wanna sit down and talk to that dude and just explain if he doesn’t understand: ‘That’s not something that’s excusable, bruh. You have to get a little smarter about whatever it is going on in your relationship. You have to get a little smarter about how you handle certain situations.’ ”

Ne-Yo went on, adding: ”I’m not going to crucify him. I’m not going to do that. That’s still my homeboy at the end of the day. For it to go to that level was wrong. I won’t say who was responsible. I won’t pick no sides. I’m just saying it was wrong [that] it had to happen like that, and I’m praying for the both of them.”

Ne-Yo has had very close ties to Brown and Rihanna. In 2006, Brown and Ne-Yo co-headlined a tour that featured Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana. Ne-Yo also penned his duet with Rihanna “I Hate That I Love You.”