JAMES BROWN - BROWN'S WIDOW BLASTS REPORTS SHE NO LONGER LOVED SOUL STAR

The widow of late soul legend JAMES BROWN has blasted reports she and her husband were bitter enemies in the weeks leading up to his death - declaring they were just "passionate." TOMI RAE HYNIE was fighting a painkiller addiction in rehab in Los Angeles when Brown died on Christmas Day (25DEC06) and dashed to Atlanta, Georgia to be by Brown's side when she heard the news of his passing. Now, she's dismissing reports her marriage was virtually over and she told Brown she no longer loved him in the weeks before his death. This came after a string of odd incidents during the couple's almost five-year marriage, including a domestic dispute which landed the soul star in jail and a full-page ad Brown took out in trade magazine Variety, announcing the break-up of his marriage. Hynie says, "We had an argument on an airplane and he wrote that (break-up announcement) on the airplane and called his secretary... and told her to put it in there. He said it was great publicity." But Brown's widow insists she truly loved the soul man, despite his reputation for being difficult. She adds, "We stayed together. That was our relationship... We did fight. We did get violent. We did get physical. And I'm not going to put it all on him. "But we made up and we were passionate. We loved each other, you know? And we weren't saints. We partied. We had good times. We had bad times."