Brandy's Painful Cat-tharsis

When R&B chanteuse Brandy abruptly split from New YorkKnick Quentin Richardson last month, the former Moeshastar wasted no time blotting out memories of her ex-fiancé. The heartbroken 26-year-old singer/actress even had the tattoo of Richardson’s face on her back hastily transformed into a cat.

A source close to Brandy—who has a three-year-old daughter with formercrypto-husband Robert Smith (more on that later)—says sheoriginally got the police-sketch-style tat as a symbol of her undying love for theKnick guard after he gave her a $1 million, 11.5-carat diamond engagement ringin 2004.

“Her family begged her not to get that tattoo, especially after herrelationship with Smith ended so horribly,” says the source. “Butshe got it anyway and then had to endure the pain of getting it covered upafter he asked for his ring back.”

One would think Brandy’s tendency to hook up with the wrong guy wouldhave made her wary of expressing her affections in permanent ink. Priorto meeting Richardson, the singer briefly dated sleeze-baller KobeBryant before moving on to Smith, who played the part of devotedhusband while her childbirth was filmed for MTV’s Diary Presents:Brandy—Special Delivery, then slinked off and told a New York disk jockey that their marriage was never official. (For the record, itwasn’t: Brandy herself reportedly described the relationship as anon-legally binding “spiritual union.”)

A spokesman for the singer, who has reportedly just signed with the WBnetwork to star in a new, unnamed series, did not return calls for comment.