Chris Brown gets shocking tattoo (Photo : Twitter: @ChrisBrown)

Chris Brown and Rihanna never cease to keep the media speculating. In a recent appearance, Brown showed off his latest tattoo --- the face of a battered woman. Located on the right side of his neck, is an image of a beautiful woman with half of her face destroyed. The media immediately assumed the tattoo was in reference to former abused girlfriend, Rihanna.

Brown denies the Rihanna connection, although the two have been rumored to be rekindling their romance. After the infamous February 2009 incident when Brown brutally beat Rihanna, the 23-year old crooner expressed his remorse via interviews, music, and a video apology on YouTube. The new tattoo eerily resembles Rihanna and its reveal comes off the heels of Rihanna's revelation about her undying love for Brown.

The face of woman in his tattoo has many similar features to Rihanna: full lips, cat eyes, arched eyebrows, and structured cheekbones. "His tattoo is a sugar skull (associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead) and a MAC cosmetics design he saw," Brown's rep told ABCNews.com as the controversy went viral. "It is not Rihanna or an abused woman as erroneously reported." Tattoo artist Peter Koskela said Brown brought him the design (see below), Entertainment Weekly reports.

The rep went on to explain that the tattoo is currently peeling, making it look much different from how Brown initially imagined. Regardless, it is a strange decision for the singer. He still hasn't quite shaken off his tarnished image. If he were to give as much as a dirty look to a reporter, the story would be linked to the '09 abuse.

After the terrible abuse incident, the once inseparable pair severed all ties; the pop diva filed a restraining order against her ex. It wasn't until this year that the couple publicly reconciled. Since the incident, both artists have released songs that may have hinted to their broken relationship-- for example, Brown's "Deuces" and Rihanna's dark album "Rated R." But what really drew attention to the rekindling couple was Rihanna's 2012 "We Found Love" video, where her love interest blatantly resembled Brown. Soon after, the estranged duo collaborated on two remixes - Rihanna's "Birthday Cake" and Brown's "Turn Up the Music." The young pop stars sang shocking lyrics like "I wanna f*ck you right now. It's been a long time, I've been missing your body" in Rihanna's single.

In an Oprah interview in her homeland, Barbados, Rihanna revealed her love for Brown. "I truly love him," she told Oprah through tears in the interview last month. She confirmed that despite the fact that Brown has a girlfriend, that she and him will "probably always love each other" and maintain a "close friendship." The singer even defended Brown's abuse, "I just felt like he made that mistake because he needed help."

Since the candid interview, the pair can now breathe easy interacting with each other in public. Cameras spotted the two kissing at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards last week.

Like her "true love," Rihanna also has an obsession with ink. The bold star got a large tattoo of Goddess Isis underneath her breasts. The tattoo was in honor of her late grandmother, Dolly or as she called her "Gran Gran Dolly."

See Brown's tattoo here.  

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