Rihanna tells Oprah Winfrey: Chris Brown 'needed help'

A tearful Rihanna tells Oprah Winfrey during an interview for "Oprah's Next Chapter" that Chris Brown needs help for the issues that caused him to violently assault the singer the night before the 2009 Grammys.

"I lost my best friend. Everything I knew switched in a night," she says of the incident. "It was a weird, confusing space to be in ... because as angry as I was, as angry and hurt and betrayed, I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help ... and who's going to help him?" 

Brown was arrested in 2009 following the heated argument that turned physical, leaving Rihanna bloody and bruised. He pleaded guilty to felony assault, was sentenced to five years probation and was ordered to stay away from the singer.

"Nobody's going to say he needs help," Rihanna says. "Everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source ... and I was more concerned about him."

The interview is scheduled to air Sunday (Aug. 19) on OWN.