Washington
(ANI):
Hip-hop
star
Akon
and
Hollywood
actress
Gabrielle
Union
have
offered
support
to
Rihanna,
who
was
allegedly
attacked
by
Chris
Brown,
and
have
urged
her
to
be
strong.
The
'Umbrella'
hitmaker
was
left
with
a
split
lip,
a
bloody
nose
and
bite
marks
on
her
hands
after
Brown
allegedly
attacked
her
following
a
heated
argument.
However,
after
much
of
speculation
over
the
incident,
Brown
has
publicly
said
that
he
was
'saddened'
by
the
incident,
which
left
Rihanna
needing
hospital
treatment.
Gabrielle
Union,
who
is
a
mutual
pal
of
Rihanna
and
Brown,
has
asked
Rihanna
to
stay
strong,
and
is
hoping
the
high
profile
case
will
make
people
rally
against
domestic
violence.
"I
know
them
both.
Unfortunately,
no
one
knows
all
the
facts
yet
what
I
think
is
great
about
this
unfortunate
situation
is
it
can
get
us
talking
about
violence,
violence
is
never
the
answer.
It's
good
to
get
that
dialogue
started.
I
wish
this
wasn't
the
catalyst
for
that
it's
never
good
to
use
violence
as
a
means
to
an
end," Contactmusic
quoted
Gabrielle
as
saying.
While
Gabrielle
has
asked
Rihanna
to
stay
strong,
Akon
has
asked
her
not
to
lose
positivism
in
life.
"Keep
doing
what
you're
doing
baby.
Keep
things
positive!
She's
a
strong
woman.
I
think
she'll
get
through
it," Akon
said.
Meanwhile,
other
celebrities
like
Jay-Z
and
Jessica
Alba
have
also
offered
support
to
Rihanna,
who
has
gone
into
hiding
after
the
incident.