“[My parents] had a very abusive relationship,” she later told ABC News. “My dad was the abuser. [He hit her] on numerous accounts. I don’t want to say normal, but it wasn’t a surprise when it happened. She never went to the hospital. Domestic violence is not something that people want anybody to know,” she added.

He was occasionally violent towards Rihanna as well.

“He slapped me so hard,” she told Rolling Stone in 2011. “I ran home with his handprint on me. I couldn’t believe it. My mother saw my face, how traumatised I was. You know how, when you know you did something wrong, and you deserve to get beat? This was out of nowhere.”

At age eight, Rihanna’s parents separated, and she took over caring for her younger brother, while her single mum worked full-time. Throughout her high school years, she was repeatedly bullied.

“I got teased my entire school life,” she told Glamour in 2013. “What they were picking on I don’t even understand. It was my skin colour. Then when I got older, it was about my breasts.”