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Rihanna and Chris Brown’s Awful Relationship Inspires ‘Law & Order’ Episode

rihanna, chris brown, law & order: special victims unit

Rihanna turned 25 yesterday (February 20) and as a belated birthday gift, NBC is presenting an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit that seems to be based on the Unapologetic singer’s tawdry, gag-inducing on-again-off-again relationship with R&B dirtbag Chris Brown.

The episode, titled “Funny Valentine,” is advertised in the above promo as “a familiar story of two celebrities intertwined by abuse.” It follows the story of an up-and-coming female pop star who is viciously beaten by her boyfriend, a twentysomething hip-hop star who unconvincingly insists that he’s not a horrible human being. The incident receives widespread media coverage as prosecutors pursue legal action, but the victim “continues to put herself in danger,” according to the clip’s synopsis. Sound familiar?

If so, Billboard points out that NBC has taken some creative liberties to make sure the televised narrative doesn’t hew too closely to Rihanna and Brown’s real-life drama. A plot development billed as the “Law & Order twist” reveals that the suspected abuser is mysteriously found dead, making life more difficult for Ice-T’s Detective Tutuola, but probably a whole lot easier for the Peacock’s legal team. And anyone in either star’s camp getting suspicious of the episode’s inspiration needs to remember: “The preceding story was fictional. No actual person or event was depicted.”

“Funny Valentine” airs on NBC on February 27 at 9 p.m. on EST. Viewers can expect special guest appearances from Wendy Williams, Dave Navarro (!), and Perez Hilton, who recently noted that Rihanna celebrated the big 2-5 by cuddling up with Breezy and scarfing down a pot leaf-adorned birthday cake. Yeah.