It's fair to say that, even nine years on, singer Chris Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in the contemporary music scene. We all remember how, back in 2009, an argument between him and his then-girlfriend Rihanna escalated into physical violence.

As a result of the scandal, Brown was shunned by the media at large. A number of commercials featuring him were suspended, his music was withdrawn from radio stations, and he retreated from the public for a time.  Brown later released a statement in which he claimed that: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." He was charged with assault and making criminal threats, and took a plea deal. He was ordered to serve of  five years of probation, and attend domestic violence counselling.

Rihanna's fans rallied round her in the aftermath of the assault, and needless to say, they want her to have nothing to do with Brown. Unfortunately, it appears that Chris Brown is still attempting to slide into her DMs. This week, the songstress posted a racy picture of herself to Instagram, which featured her lounging on her bed while wearing some sexy Savage x Fenty underwear.

The picture was captioned: "We getting NAUGHTY-not-NICE this season! ‘@savagexfenty just dropped The Ultimate Gift Guide to help you shop gifts for everybody in ya life !! Hit up SavageX.com to get 50% off everything for a limited time! [sic]" However, Rihanna's eagle-eyed followers noticed that Chris Brown had commented on the pic, with an 'embarrassed emoji.' Predictably, people weren't exactly enthused that he was attempting to communicate with his ex at all.

One Instagram user wrote: "@chrisbrownofficial what are you doing here still?" while another added: "@chrisbrownofficialwhen you’re ex is 1000000000000 times better than you." However, some Instagram-users were more supportive of the comment, with one person writing: "Hey all he did was comment, let [Rihanna] be the one to decide if he has a chance or not, she probably already forgave him. [sic]"

Apparently, a source close to Brown recently told Hollywood Life that: "Chris is ecstatic that Rihanna and Hassan have officially split up ... He knows getting Rihanna back is a long shot but he likes a challenge, he’s so up for it. Chris has plenty of women in his life but no one really has his heart and it’s starting to seem like he’s not going to give it to anyone while Rihanna’s still on the market. She’s the one he wants to marry and now that Hassan is cancelled, Chris wants to finally get his Hail Mary shot with her."

Rihanna did get back together with Brown for a while after the incident, and in a 2013 interview, she stated: "He's not the monster everybody thinks. He's a good person. He has a fantastic heart. He's giving and loving. And he's fun to be around. That's what I love about him – he always makes me laugh. All I want to do is laugh, really – and I do that with him."

It's fair to say that, even nine years on, singer Chris Brown remains one of the most controversial figures in the contemporary music scene. We all remember how, back in 2009, an argument between him and his then-girlfriend Rihanna escalated into physical violence.

As a result of the scandal, Brown was shunned by the media at large. A number of commercials featuring him were suspended, his music was withdrawn from radio stations, and he retreated from the public for a time.  Brown later released a statement in which he claimed that: "Words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired." He was charged with assault and making criminal threats, and took a plea deal. He was ordered to serve of  five years of probation, and attend domestic violence counselling.

Rihanna's fans rallied round her in the aftermath of the assault, and needless to say, they want her to have nothing to do with Brown. Unfortunately, it appears that Chris Brown is still attempting to slide into her DMs. This week, the songstress posted a racy picture of herself to Instagram, which featured her lounging on her bed while wearing some sexy Savage x Fenty underwear.

The picture was captioned: "We getting NAUGHTY-not-NICE this season! ‘@savagexfenty just dropped The Ultimate Gift Guide to help you shop gifts for everybody in ya life !! Hit up SavageX.com to get 50% off everything for a limited time! [sic]" However, Rihanna's eagle-eyed followers noticed that Chris Brown had commented on the pic, with an 'embarrassed emoji.' Predictably, people weren't exactly enthused that he was attempting to communicate with his ex at all.

One Instagram user wrote: "@chrisbrownofficial what are you doing here still?" while another added: "@chrisbrownofficialwhen you’re ex is 1000000000000 times better than you." However, some Instagram-users were more supportive of the comment, with one person writing: "Hey all he did was comment, let [Rihanna] be the one to decide if he has a chance or not, she probably already forgave him. [sic]"

Apparently, a source close to Brown recently told Hollywood Life that: "Chris is ecstatic that Rihanna and Hassan have officially split up ... He knows getting Rihanna back is a long shot but he likes a challenge, he’s so up for it. Chris has plenty of women in his life but no one really has his heart and it’s starting to seem like he’s not going to give it to anyone while Rihanna’s still on the market. She’s the one he wants to marry and now that Hassan is cancelled, Chris wants to finally get his Hail Mary shot with her."

Rihanna did get back together with Brown for a while after the incident, and in a 2013 interview, she stated: "He's not the monster everybody thinks. He's a good person. He has a fantastic heart. He's giving and loving. And he's fun to be around. That's what I love about him – he always makes me laugh. All I want to do is laugh, really – and I do that with him."