Is next week's 'Law & Order: SVU' episode about Rihanna and Chris Brown? [Video]

Sarah D. Bunting

The preview for next week's "Law & Order: SVU" episode, "Funny Valentine," is above, and if you didn't catch it, it's a doozy.

"SVU" is making the most of its February sweeps time, following up the most recent ep -- in which Detective Rollins (Kelli Giddish) got set up and robbed by her no-account sister -- with a thinly-veiled take on Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship. The cop show, now in its fourteenth season, commented, "As always, 'SVU' is fiction" ... but it's about an up-and-coming singer who's beaten severely by her boyfriend, a hip-hop artist, then refuses to help police convict him of the crime.

[Related: Rihanna's most scandalous moments, on Yahoo! Music]


There is a twist (probably juuuust twisty enough to keep "SVU" producers from getting sued), but that it's based on the violent and sometimes inexplicable ups and downs in Rihanna and Chris Brown's relationship is the obvious conclusion, and just as obviously the one the "SVU" creative team wants viewers to draw.

In real life, Rihanna's 2009 Grammys performance was canceled, and shortly thereafter, with rumors swirling about a dust-up between the singer and then-boyfriend Chris Brown, LAPD leaked a photo to TMZ.com showing Rihanna's injuries. Brown was charged with assault and "making criminal threats" and slapped with a modified restraining order. Rihanna recently told Oprah that she'll always love Brown, and recent tweets and collaborations suggest that all is forgiven between the two.

[Related: omg! reports on birthday girl Rihanna's trip to Hawaii with Chris Brown]

Do you forgive "SVU" for leveraging the story with an episode designed to attract rubberneckers (and which also guest-stars, among others, Hollywood gadfly Perez Hilton)? Let us know what you think in the comments!

"Law & Order: SVU" airs Wednesdays at 9 PM on NBC.