Fabolous struck a plea deal after being indicted on four felony domestic violence charges back in October. In a new interview with Hot 97, the singer now breaks his silence on his assault on longtime girlfriend Emily Bustamante.

During the interview on Wednesday (Dec. 4), Fab explained how the public nature of the case was difficult for him.

“I’m more to myself with my family and my personal life is usually handled inside,” he said. “It’s not usually public, with opinions, comments, family members involved—them reacting to everything.”

The “Into You” rapper further described that during the case he had chosen to invest his energy on making sure the people closest to him had the correct information.

“We had to deal with it internally it wasn’t about dealing with it publicly. That’s where I put my energy and focus into, dealing with it internally. Publicly, everybody is going to have their opinions,” he said. “There are going to be some speculations…but the clarity that I was looking for was inside more than anything. Because that’s the people that I’m dealing with every day. Those are the people that I love that I want to make sure they are clear on what’s going on. I didn’t focus on what’s going on the outside.”

Fab turned himself in after the assault and was indicted on four felony charges, including one count of domestic violence with significant bodily injury, two counts of threatening to kill and one count of possession of a weapon—a pair of scissors. The assault case became heavily publicized when a video of the rapper threatening Bustamante’s father surfaced online.

“Looking at the video is different from being inside of it,” Fab said about the clip. “From the video point it looks crazy. I’m not trying to excuse myself, it was really more of, like, an internal thing with us going through the motion of what was happening—our emotions and a lot of things that was building up with our relationship and our family. It wasn’t about the video or who put out the video. It was more just about us getting back to the place that we need to be.”

As for how the news affected fans, Fab offered an apology.

“I apologize for coming across in the light I wouldn’t want to be represented in,” he said. “I don’t know anything else…people make their opinions. All I can I do is apologize for being in a light that’s not showing my best self.”

The rapper faced 20 years in prison but, with his plea deal, will avoid jail time as long as he completes a prevail intervention program and doesn’t get in any trouble for 12 months. Following the case, Fab and Bustamante are reportedly still together.

Watch his whole interview below.