Rihanna is breaking her long silence about the night she was viciously assaulted by ex-boyfriend Chris Brown.

"This happened to me and it can happen to anybody," she said, speaking out on 20/20.

She told 20/20 that the attack, at the hands of a man she loved, left her a wreck.

"He was definitely my first big love," she said of Brown.

Rihanna also opened up to Glamour magazine, saying the assault turned her life upside down. "I went to sleep as Rihanna and woke up as Britney Spears. That was the level of media chaos that happened the next day."

The most humiliating part, she said, was when the shocking picture taken just after the assault was leaked, allegedly by two police officers. She said she was "completely taken advantage of."

"This is not a photo you show to anybody. People were making it into a fun topic on the internet and it's my life."

Chris Brown pleaded guilty to assaulting Rihanna and was sentenced to probation and community service.

Now, eight months after the assault, Rihanna is back on top. The 21-year-old told Glamour that her difficult year has made her "stronger" and "wiser," and she has a message for all victims of domestic violence: Stand up and speak out.

Rihanna has a new album coming out, and some of the songs are reportedly about her troubled relationship with Chris Brown.

For more from Glamour's interview with Rihanna, visit www.glamour.com/women-of-the-year/2009/rihanna.