It’s a solid four years too late, but Chris Brown has finally dropped the bravado and admitted that the physical assault he inflicted on his girlfriend Rihanna on the evening of the Grammys in 2009 was “the deepest regret” of his life.

Brown was talking at Elton John’s Aids Foundation Oscars fund raising party in Hollywood to the Daily Mirror when he came out with the admission, in a statement that was uncharacteristically humble. “Sometimes you row, you fight, with the one you love and things get said, stuff spirals” the R n’ B star said. “That night was the deepest regret of my life, the biggest mistake. But she loves me – what can I say? I’m forgiven… but, yes, I worked hard for it.”

The artist wasn’t quite ready to accept the critics though, going on to say “People attack me and criticize me, it happens all the time. But they don’t know me, and they don’t know us. It doesn’t bother me any more. Other people can judge us but they don’t know anything." He was talking in reference to Seth MacFarlane’s joke, made at the Oscars on Sunday night (February 24, 2013), that compared the film Django Unchained to a Rihanna and Chris Brown ‘date night’. However, he then added “I’ve learned a lot since that night and I’ve grown up. I was very young and I took a lot of stuff, fame, for granted. I didn’t understand it. The support from those who do know me and the fans, who are incredible, got me through.” He’s convinced Rihanna to forgive him, will this convince the media?

Chris Brown Elton John AIDS Foundation Party

Chris Brown cut a surprisingly humble figure at Elton John's annual Oscars bash