After bruising and scraping my face last weekend, my friends all called me Rihanna.

No, there wasn’t any domestic abuse involved in my bumps and bruises, but it did catch my attention because of how mainstream this event has become.

When famous couple Rihanna and Chris Brown didn’t make an appearance at the Grammy’s red carpet event this February, it was later discovered that Brown had allegedly assaulted Rihanna.

For the next several weeks, leading up to now, news and updates about Brown and Rihanna covered sites such as PerezHilton.com and TMZ.com. As soon as any small bit of information was uncovered, it was posted.

This high profile couple has been forced into the spotlight and with it has come some terrible comments from other celebrities.

For example, comedian Kenan Thompson of SNL has invited Chris Brown onto the show, stating “We don’t care about the scandal. We just care about what brings us ratings.”

He continued, “I don’t know the whole story, but I know how women can get when you get a text message from another female.”

Justifying the abuse to reporters may be a reason for readers to follow the same logic and believe that Brown’s actions were somehow justified.

Friend and colleague to Brown, T.I. spoke of him after news of the attack had leaked and said that he was “cool.”

He continued in an interview with host Carson Daly of Carson Daly’s talk show, “Yeah, I spoke to him today… He cool, you know. I guess he a little concerned about the situation, but he’s still the same Chris.”

T.I. later rescinded his comments, saying he “made a mistake of commenting before understanding the situation.”

Regardless of any apology given, his words are still out there.

With this obsession of stars comes admiration.

Even if what T.I. said was untrue, fans and those hoping to break into the rap or music industry may hear his comments and feel that this type of abuse is acceptable or even a way of being accepted into Brown and T.I.’s industry.

What has been the outcome of all this media coverage? Not awareness or education, but mocking and an interest only in entertainment value.

Joking about her abuse only takes away from the serious issue at hand.

Even though I know this joking has no intent to hurt or be mean, the danger of losing the situation’s seriousness is still there.

It’s easy to elevate these two people to a status so above us that we can no longer relate to how difficult and terrible this situation truly is.

Despite status, it is important for the focus to be placed on the abuse rather than the star. It is important to see that this woman is still human.

Perez Hilton posted that, “Rihanna is still recuperating in Barbados… Hopefully she’ll pick herself up and get back to work soon!”

Although her career is in the entertainment industry, she is still human.

It was reported that celebrity gossip site TMZ paid $62,500 for photos taken of Rihanna right after the incident.

America’s obsession with film and music stars has become invasive to the point where snapshots can be sold with a price tag equal to and greater than some people’s annual salaries. With these larger than life numbers and lifestyles, it’s easy to forget how possible abuse is for anyone.

From what I have gathered, it appears to mean that the couple was already fighting and it became elevated to the point of physical violence.

Although I don’t believe most people would become angry to this point, you can’t forget that this isn’t something that only happens to celebrities.

For some, this violence is probably somewhat close to home and isn’t just about two people who almost feel like characters with experiences that are unobtainable for those in our everyday life.

As we joke in our everyday life, we can’t lose sight of reality or else abuse will become a joke between friends.