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Tuesday, 4 September 2007

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Rihanna’s dad apologises for being a crack addict

Singer was forced to watch him self-destruct

Rihanna’s childhood was overshadowed by her father’s addiction to alcohol and crack cocaine - and now he wants to say sorry.

‘I will never forgive myself for what I did to her. When she was still a baby she watched as I fed my dirty drug habit,’ says Ronald, 53.

Rihanna - whose real name is Robyn Rihanna Fenty - grew up in Barbados and wept as she watched her dad become more and more addicted to drugs.

‘I will always have nightmares as I think of her crying begging me to stop,' her recalls.

'But I was a hopeless addict and I couldn’t care. My beautiful daughter should never have witnessed the things she did.’

Ronald says he's been clean for 10 years and is grateful that the 19-year-old seems to have forgiven him.

‘She kissed me goodbye [after a concert] and I didn’t notice her slipping something into my pocket,’ he tells Sunday magazine.

‘But when I got to the airport, I pulled out a wad of notes. It brought tears to my eyes. I would never ask her for money, but of course it came in handy.’

‘She rings me all the time and tells me she loves me. That’s reward enough for me.'

Suzannah Ramsdale