R&B star Chris Brown's mom has hampered Rihanna's hopes of playing down her romance with the Kiss Kiss singer - by cooing about the Bahamas beauty.

Joyce Hawkins visited the Fire & Ice gifting lounge for the BET Awards over the weekend with her son and his alleged girlfriend. According to Eonline.com, she was overheard calling Rihanna "the sexiest and sweetest girl Chris has ever dated."

Those present in the gifting lounge when Rihanna and Brown arrived insist the couple did nothing to hide their feelings for each other. One source says, "They came through holding hands and kissing each other on the neck."

The couple took home matching gold watches from Croton, and Rihanna helped her man pick out pairs of New Balance running shoes after picking up three pairs of Australia Love Collective boots.

While all this was going on, the Umbrella hit-maker was planning to refute Brown romance rumors. Appearing on Monday's The View, she said, "He's an amazing person but we are not dating. We are very close, very, very close... There's a big difference."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)