UPDATE!! TMZ Rihanna photo being investigated by LAPD

The Los Angeles Police Department opened an internal investigation late Thursday into whether a picture posted on a celebrity gossip website purportedly showing the bloody and bruised face of R&B star Rihanna was part of police evidence in the case, department officials said in a statement.

The photo posted by TMZ.com at 8:39 p.m. Eastern Standard Time time under the headline "Rihanna -- The Face of a Battered Woman" showed a woman said to be Rihanna with her eyes closed, a fat lip and apparent bruising to her forehead. The site ran a short sentence above the photo stating "TMZ has obtained a photo of Rihanna taken after Chris Brown allegedly beat her."

The LAPD currently is investigating an alleged altercation between Rihanna and singer Chris Brown, who police said injured the female artist during a fight the couple had last week in a Hancock Park neighborhood the morning of the Grammy Awards.