Chris Brown & Rihanna

Rihanna did not mince words talking to Oprah about Chris Brown ... saying very simply, "I still love him."

As part of tonight's episode of "Oprah's Next Chapter," O asked RiRi where her relationship with Chris stands today, nearly three years after his brutal attack on her.

Rihanna explained, "We're very, very close friends. We built a trust again and that's it. We love each other and we probably always will."

RiRi says the two are just friends now and they are in no way back together ... though she did admit, "I think he was the love of my life."

With tears pouring down her face, an emotional Rihanna opened up to Oprah about Chris Brown ... describing how she "lost her best friend" after he attacked her back in 2009.

During the interview, set to air Sunday night on OWN, Rihanna described her emotions following the beating.

"It was a weird, confusing space to be in ... because as angry as I was, as angry and hurt and betrayed, I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help ... and who's going to help him?"

Rihanna continued, "Nobody's going to say he needs help. Everybody's going to say he's a monster without looking at the source ... and I was more concerned about him."

"I lost my best friend ... everything I knew switched ... switched in a night and I couldn't control that."

Chris Brown and Drake are now a team -- both are defendants in a lawsuit just filed by people connected to the nightclub which was the site of the June 14th, bottle throwing, bloody brawl.

Entertainment Enterprises Ltd., which has a financial stake in the NYC venue where the brawl went down, claims in the suit that both stars "shared a grudge against the other arising out of their romantic relationships with the same woman." In case you were vacationing under a rock ... it's Rihanna.

EEL claims in the suit -- obtained by the New York Post -- when Drake and Brown crossed paths, they "began to fight violently with each other."

The suit goes on ... "Each arrived with his own small army of bodyguards, 'security' personnel, employees, friends and other members of their entourage consisting of at least 15 heavily built men trained and/or experienced in hand-to-hand and weapons combat."

The lawsuit says both Drake and Chris each ordered their goons to take care of business.

The suit also credits the crews of both Drake and Chris with ingenuity, claiming they "fashioned deadly weapons out of whatever materials they could find, including glasses, alcohol bottles and furniture."

The suit asks for $16 million in damages.

Chris Brown has taken his beef with Drake out of the nightclub and put it where it belongs ... on record ... by dropping a new verse that rips his hip-hop adversary.

The new song -- a remix track called "Game Don't Like" -- was released today on djorator.com. CB has a verse on the song, which mentions "throwin' bottles" but then takes a shot at Drake. Brown raps:

One on one, what you scared bruh?
Huh, matter of fact, "Take Care" bruh.
You're a pu**y ni**a.

"Take Care," for the uninitiated, is the name of Drake's most recent album.

NBA superstar Tony Parker -- who was injured when Drake and Chris Brown's posses squared off -- is suing the NYC nightclub for $20 million, claiming it should never have let Rihanna's exes in at the same time ... and Chris Brown as well as Drake could end up as defendants.

The San Antonio Spurs star filed the lawsuit Thursday in NY State Supreme Court ... against W.i.P. Nightclub -- and in the suit he alleges the club's security was negligent for allowing the brawl to ever happen.

Parker says he was hit by shards of glass and suffered lacerations to his cornea when bottles started flying in the fight last week.

The lawsuit alleges club management, knowing there was "bad blood between Drake and Brown," was driven by the almighty buck and continued selling alcohol to the participants in the brawl, despite the fact that some were "visibly intoxicated."

Parker's injury is a huge deal because it could affect his NBA career, and -- more immediately -- his performance in the Olympics with the French national basketball team.

As for why he would sue for $20 MILLION? Parker is in the middle of a $50 million contract with the Spurs.

As for whether Chris Brown or Drake will be added as defendants, Parker's lawyer, David Jaroslawicz, tells TMZ ... he's waiting for the results of the police investigation. He also wants to review the surveillance tape before making his decision.

Meek Mill says he didn't throw a single bottle during the W.i.P. nightclub brawl ... neither did Drake nor Chris Brown. Instead, Meek says the real culprits are FEMALE.

Meek finally broke his silence with XXLMAG.com ... saying, "Chris and Drake, them two was there, but it's other people that be around that take sh*t to the next level."

Meek continued, “Things just happen in the club. I seen girls in there throwing bottles, all types of sh*t. All types of people. I never seen Chris Brown or Drake throw a bottle and I was there.”

When asked if he threw a bottle, Meek replied, "F*ck no."

As we previously reported witnesses say Meek -- who was hanging at Drake's table during the June 13 incident -- was one of the instigators in the fight. He's also rumored to have slept with Rihanna.

Meek claims he spoke with Chris Brown on the phone directly after the brawl ... and both sides agreed they had no problem with the other.

The Game knows a thing or two about celebrity feuds ... and last night, the rapper had some advice for Chris Brown and Drake -- squash that beef, ASAP.

Game was leaving Roxbury nightclub in Hollywood when we asked about the bottle-throwing brawl in NYC.

"Chris Brown is like my little brother, man ... and Drake is a cool dude ... they just need to cut that out. It ain't worth it."

Game should know ... he famously feuded with 50 Cent and G-Unit for years.

Drake is adamant ... he is not responsible for the bloody gash on Chris Brown's face ... claiming he was simply leaving the nightclub when the brawl broke out ... but sources tell us, the fight started after Chris Brown and a rapper at Drake's table started trash talking each other.

The rapper hanging with Drake -- Meek Mill -- was screaming at Chris and Chris was giving it right back to Meek Mill. One of Chris' lieutenants was also involved in the screaming match.

Our sources would NOT say what specifically they were arguing about -- partly out of fear that someone will get hurt. But we are told the argument was NOT over Rihanna.

One source says Chris was hurt when Meek Mill hit him with a bottle.

A rep for Drake tells TMZ ... "Drake did not participate in any wrongdoing of any kind last night at W.i.P. He was on his way out of the club when the altercation began."

10:55 AM PT -- Drake's rep just issued a statement about the incident, insisting Drizzy wasn't involved in the brawl at all ... the beef was between CB and another rapper named Meek Mill.

10:15 AM PT -- A witness who was inside the club tells TMZ ... Chris Brown did NOT send any bottles over to Drake's table, despite several reports to the contrary.

We're told both Brown and Drake had been hanging out in the VIP section ... when Drake began pointing and yelling at Brown.

Brown began yelling back ... and that's when members of both entourages rushed in and began shoving each other.

With tensions running high, someone threw a bottle -- which set the whole thing off ... and the shoving turned to punches.

We're told club security rushed in to break up the fight ... and called police for backup. Brown and Drake left the scene by the time cops showed up ... but several members of their entourages remained at the club. Multiple members of both crews required medical assistance.

We're told the club suffered some serious damage in the fight -- including busted up tables, broken mirrors, shattered lighting and glass scratches all over the floors.

Chris Brown sustained a nasty gash on his chin -- apparently a wound from a bottle attack -- after his entourage allegedly clashed with Drake's crew in a NYC nightclub brawl.

TMZ has confirmed with the NYPD that the two singers' crews got into a fight at WIP nightclub -- 5 people were injured in the melee.

NYPD arrived on the scene after receiving a call between 4 and 5am. Chris and Drake were not present when cops arrived.

A picture of Chris Brown's Transformers-themed SUV taken after the fight has surfaced -- with what appears to be blood splattered on the back.

Another clue Rihanna may be getting back together with Chris Brown ... the two partied at the same club at the same time last night ... AGAIN.

Chris and Rihanna were spotted at Avenue nightclub in NYC. Sources at the club tell us the two were in the club together for roughly 30 minutes ... and Brown spent some time hanging out at Rihanna's table.

They exited the club separately ... but within minutes of each other ... and both were tight-lipped about what happened inside.

The exes have been linked together several times already this year ... laying down song tracks ... showing up at birthday parties and hanging out at nightclubs in West Hollywood.

It seems Rihanna has finally had enough of Chris Brown ... the singer has "unfollowed" her ex-boyfriend on Twitter after he released a new diss track that appears to be aimed at her.

The song in question is a remix of Kanye's TheraFlu -- in which Brown freestyles the verse, "Don't f*ck with my old bitches ... like a bad fur ... every industry n*gga done had her."

He continues, "Trick or treat like a pumpkin ... just to smash her."

Hours after Brown released the track last night, Rihanna stopped following Brown on Twitter -- a HUGE move -- and one that's leading many to assume Rihanna believes the verse is about her.

A short time later, Brown unfollowed Rihanna.

We reached out to Rihanna's rep -- so far, no comment.

Screw the brutal, face-smashing beating in 2009 ... Chris Brown is the HOTTEST R&B artist out right now -- which is why Rihanna says she reached out to CB to collaborate on two new songs.

Rihanna called Ryan Seacrest this morning on KIIS FM, explaining her choice to record two duets with the man who brutalized her three years ago -- "I reached out to him about doing ‘Birthday Cake’ because that’s the only person that really -- it made sense to do the record. Just as a musician -- despite everything else -- that was going to be the person."

She said, "I thought about rappers, and I’ve done that so many times, and the hottest R&B artist out right now is Chris Brown. So I wanted him on the track."

Chris Brown’s GF is scared to leave her house without bodyguards by her side -- and she's telling friends, it's all because Rihanna's crazy fans are threatening to kill her.

In case you missed it -- there was a lot of speculation last week that Rihanna dissed Karrueche Tran on Twitter -- posting a pic of a bag of rice cakes wearing sunglasses ... with the caption, "Ima a make u my bitch."

The joke -- Karrueche's Vietnamese ... rice cakes ... etc.

But several of Rihanna's fans took the joke one step too far -- unleashing an avalanche of violent threats on Karrueche ... like "I hope Rihanna beat the dog shit outa yo ass!" ... "Watch yo back" ... and "I will kill you."

Rihanna never admitted the rice cake jab was directed at Karrueche -- but sources close to Karrueche tell TMZ, she now refuses to leave her house without Chris Brown's hired muscle by her side.

As for Karrueche's infamous BF -- we're told CB is 100% supportive of his new lady ... despite getting close with Rihanna recently ... and is urging her not to worry.

Chris Brown didn't shy away when the DJ blasted a Rihanna song at an Orlando nightclub this weekend -- instead, he proudly sang along with EVERY lyric ... and TMZ has the footage.

It all went down at Club Vain on Sunday night during an NBA All--Star weekend finale party.

Chris was hanging on the main stage ... with everybody looking at him ... when Rihanna's "We Found Love" began to pump through the speakers ... and Chris made sure everyone knew he's a HUGE fan of the song.

Chris Brown is being watched ... watched closely by the D.A. who prosecuted him for beating Rihanna ... because the latest incident in Miami could trigger a full court press in L.A. to send Brown to prison.

Sources tell us ... the L.A. District Attorney's Office is well aware of the robbery-by-snatching investigation of Brown in Florida ... and they're waiting for the L.A. County Probation Dept. to recommend what action, if any, should be taken.

In case you forgot ... and how could you forget? ... Brown was sentenced to 5 years probation for beating Rihanna in 2009 ... and one of the terms is that he obey all laws.

If officials determine the allegations against Brown are true -- that he "snatched" a cell phone from a woman in Florida -- his probation could be revoked and he could be thrown in prison for 4 years.

Chris Brown and Rihanna are dangerously close to getting back together, sources close to the ex-couple tell TMZ -- but the singers' friends are desperately trying to keep them apart ... for their own good.

According to sources, Rihanna is still head over heels for Chris -- despite that fateful night 3 years ago when he brutalized her -- and if it weren't for the media and her fans, she would already have taken him back.

We're told Chris also has extremely strong feelings for Rihanna -- current girlfriend be damned.

Now, sources tell us, Rihanna and Chris' friends are terrified they'll get back together -- and they're doing everything they can to prevent a possible reunion.

According to sources, friends on BOTH sides have expressed extremely strong reservations to Ri and CB about spending so much time together ... warning it's a terrible idea ... personally AND professionally.

But with Rihanna's birthday ... Chris and Rihanna's duets released this week ... friends fear they're fighting an uphill battle.

As one source put it, "You can't hold back love."