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Courtesy of FOX:

This is a rush transcript from “On the Record ,” February 20, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOX NEWS HOST: Tonight: She is out and about. TMZ posted the first picture of pop star Rihanna caught in public for the first time since allegedly being beaten in the face by her boyfriend, rapper Chris Brown. The just-posted picture was taken yesterday when the pop star was spotted on the way to the airport.

Now, this comes on the heels of last night’s bombshell photo allegedly of Rihanna also obtained by TMZ.com. That pic is said to show Rihanna moments after being beaten by Brown. Is this an authentic picture of Rihanna? Is this her beaten face? Some doctored pictures were circulated on the Internet last week, so of course, now everyone wants to know if this picture is the real deal or not.

Moments ago, TMZ executive producer Harvey Levin went “On the Record.”

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VAN SUSTEREN: Harvey, nice to see you. And you are so lucky. Do you know why?

HARVEY LEVIN, TMZ.COM: Why?

VAN SUSTEREN: Because you have the LAPD authenticating the picture you put on TMZ.com in their press release.

LEVIN: You noticed!

(LAUGHTER)

LEVIN: You’re the first person — you know, Greta, it just proves again how smart you are. You figured something out that went over pretty much everybody else’s head.

VAN SUSTEREN: You know, Harvey, I — what were they thinking? I mean, you’ve got this picture — I mean — I guess we should explain it for the viewers. What’s the picture you have on TMZ.com?

LEVIN: Yes, it is a photograph Rihanna that was taken shortly after the alleged beating a couple of weeks ago. We, obviously, believed at the time convincingly that it was Rihanna and put it up on the site.

And I’m not — believe me, I’m not saying anything bad at all about the LAPD. I mean, what they needed to do, they felt, was conduct an internal affairs investigation because they felt there was a leak. In so doing, as you say, they did authenticate the picture.

Now, I should be quick to say, Greta, that we got this picture legally. And we — when we got the picture, we believed it was not an LAPD picture, and we still are still not convinced it is. The police department is sounding like they say it is, but they haven’t said that unequivocally, either.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, wait a second. I don’t even understand. Even if it is an LAPD police picture, you’re a journalist, you got the picture, and it’s their problem internally if it came — if it got leaked somehow to the public or to the press. That’s not your problem. That’s their problem. And with all due respect to you defending them, the LAPD, on this, it’s pretty stupid to issue a press release about an internal investigation and authenticate a picture, as they’ve done.

LEVIN: Well, they did what they did. And you know, you’re right, in so doing, they — you know, because there were a lot of people — you know, once we put it up, we saw some of the comments on the site. They were saying, Oh, this has got to be Photoshopped. We can’t believe this. I mean, we knew it wasn’t. But nonetheless, you know, it is what it is this morning.is.

VAN SUSTEREN: All right. And the words from the press release from the LAPD, so we have that straight — “The photograph has the appearance of one taken during an official domestic violence investigation.” And I hope that they’ll do my authenticating of my work in the future when we need help. But anyway, I say that sort of tongue in cheek. All right, Now, tell me about this…

LEVIN: I noticed!

(LAUGHTER)

VAN SUSTEREN: Yes. Right. All right, so where is Rihanna? And where is Chris Brown? And what’s the story going back to this February 8 allegation of assault?

LEVIN: Well, you know, they are — you know, she has gone out in public. We actually have a picture of her getting into a car last night. But for the most part, they have laid low.”

To read more about FOX’s interview with TMZ’s Harvey Levin, please click the link! Have an opinion and wanna share it? Speak on it in the comments section!

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