Domestic violence has been common around us for quite a while, with celebrities often not speaking about their horrific experiences in the early times. But, for quite a few years, celebrities have started opening up more about their domestic violence stories, whether they were physically, emotionally, or mentally harassed, to move past their traumas. They want to show everyone that they, too, are humans who have gone through tragic things and inspire everyone to not stand back when they are abused in any way and get out of that situation immediately. These celebrities also want to inspire people to get help for their traumas and move past them to get a better hold of their lives. So, here are celebrities who were victims of domestic violence and have openly shared their stories to help those who are going through it or are survivors of the terrible things that happened to them.

Tina Turner

The Queen of Rock n Roll was no exception to domestic abuse as she underwent it for several years before finally mustering up enough courage and running away from her abusive ex-husband in 1978. Tina Turner and Ike Turner tied the knot in 1962 and were married for 16 years, during which Ike tried to control everything in their relationship.

The singer opened up about her abusive relationship in 1981 to People, where she spoke about how she was “just a shadow” during her marriage in the mid-1960s when Ike took care of everything regarding their band, including the finances. Tina was expected to just follow through and even go as far as cooking for the band late at night at 4 am.

Tina even shared the harrowing experience she underwent one last time before finally making a run for her life. While speaking to People, Tina said that on July 1, 1976, when the couple was on tour, Ike beat her all the way from the airport to their hotel in Dallas. He abused her to such an extent that by the time the couple reached the hotel, Tina’s face had swollen up horribly, and she compared her face to that of a “monster.” She then went with Ike to their room and pretended that everything between them was good. As soon as Ike went to sleep, Tina made a run for her life. She did not care about the consequences as she already felt dead.

Sharon Osbourne

Sharon Osbourne is another victim in our list of celebrities who were victims of domestic violence. She was abused by both her father and husband.

According to Us Weekly, she opened up about the physical abuse she encountered as a child in an interview with a talk show. Sharon shared the horrific details of the abuse by saying, “[My dad] would whack me and he used to yank my hair.” She further said that her father has left her with fears that she has not gotten over to date. She spoke about how her father would lock her up in a dark coal cupboard to punish her due to which she avoids small places till date.

Talking about the abuse by her husband, Ozzy Osbourne, the X Factor judge said that there was physical violence in her marriage. According to The Sun, she even recalled an incident when her husband had physically abused her in such a way that she woke up with two broken front teeth and had to go to the dentist with them to get them fixed. Sharon also shared how she did not think anything was wrong with the way the couple treated each other, as they both came from homes where physical violence was normal. She said, “I used to think if you got angry it was absolutely OK to hit someone.” The couple have since worked on their relationship and are happily married.

Evan Rachel Wood

Evan Rachel Wood is another famous celebrity who was a victim of domestic violence and has openly spoken about it. In 2021, the actress posted a post on her Instagram revealing the name of her abuser to the world but eventually took down the post. According to Good Morning America, her abuser was none other than Brian Warner aka Marilyn Manson. Brian was Evan’s mentor and helped groom her when she was a teenager but he also misused her innocence and abused her in one of the worst ways possible. He mentally and physically abused her, trying to make her do everything he wanted, and if she did not follow through, he put her on a guilt trip.

The actress spoke about her horrible past in Phoenix Rising, a documentary on HBO, saying that Brian called her around 158 times and if she did not answer his call, he would harm himself and even threaten to commit suicide. She further shared, “This is when people in my life said, ‘You need to get a restraining order.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely not, absolutely not.’ Getting a restraining order seemed absolutely crazy to me, because I was like, ‘You’re only going to make him more mad.’”

“I went back to his home to try to defuse the situation after he’d been cutting himself and threatening suicide,” she added on GMA. “And I was severely punished.”

The duo was engaged for a while but finally split in 2011, with Evan finally mustering up the courage to get out of this toxic cycle.

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron had a difficult childhood as she watched her mom shoot her dad in 1991 to protect Charlize and herself. The award-winning actress’s father suffered from addiction, which made her life unpredictable and difficult. One day, her father came back home drunk with a gun in his hand. She and her mom were so scared that they leaned against the bedroom door so that her father, who was trying to push through the door, could not get in. After being unsuccessful in opening the door, Theron’s father stepped back and just shot through the door aimlessly thrice. Thankfully, none of those bullets hit the actress or her mother, but in return, Charlize’s mother shot her dad, who passed away.

Rosie O’Donnell

Rosie O’Donnell was scarred as a child who was abused by none other than her father, Edward O’Donnell. She shared the harrowing experience in the book Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of The View, saying, “It started very young.” The View host then claimed that things finally changed after her mother passed away and her father was left with the upbringing of five kids. She further explained how she did not like to talk about the harassment she encountered as it not only changed her but also put her in a “powerless” situation as the person she should go to when she comes across such a problem was the one behind it leaving her with nowhere to go.

Cassie

Cassie was with Sean “Diddy” Combs from 2007 to 2018 and everyone thought they were going to have a happily ever after. Little did they know that Cassie was abused in her relationship. The world found out a piece of what Cassie had endured in her relationship when LA’s InterContinental Hotel’s CCTV footage from 2016 was leaked, which showed Sean physically abusing Cassie in an inhumane way. Cassie then took to her Instagram to thank everyone for coming out in her support and showering her with lots of love. She wrote about how domestic violence is an issue and how it turned her into the kind of person she never thought she could be. The singer also shared that she was learning to move on, and the road to recovery was long, but she was becoming better with every passing day. She also gave an advice to people undergoing domestic violence and asked them to reach out for support instead of cutting people off and tolerating abuse.

Robin Givens

Robin Givens opened up about the physical abuse she went through at the hands of her ex-husband, Mike Tyson, while still being married to him. The couple sat down together for an interview with Barbara Walters in 1988 when Robin Givens opened up about the traumas she was going through in her marriage. She spoke about her then-husband’s violent side to the host, sharing how he would shake, push and swing her. Givens spoke about how there was a time she thought she could handle the abuse but was very scared of Mike now and even thought about how Mike was a “manic depressive” in Russia. She further expressed how she felt connected to women who had been abused and understood them better now, saying, “I think for the first time I can understand abused women…you know, you say, ‘Why do you stay in there?’ Well, number one, you love the person, and number two, you get accustomed to being treated poorly.” However, their relationship did not last long after the interview, with Givens filing for divorce just a week later.

Tyler Perry

In 2019, Tyler Perry got candid with People and spoke about his traumatic childhood experience. He shared how his father, Emmitt Perry, was an alcoholic and would beat him up to such an extent that he once ripped the skin off his back with the help of a vacuum cord. However, Perry eventually forgave his father for all the trauma he had caused him, as it was affecting him way more than it ever affected his father.

Moreover, he shared that he was also raped by four family friends, three men, and one woman, by the age of 10. At the time, the billionaire did not know what was happening to him and was also made to believe that boys do not cry and should learn to move on from things.

April Hernandez- Castillo

Serving the role of an inspirational role model today, April Hernandez-Castillo was once a victim of physical and emotional abuse by her boyfriend at the time. The actress was embarrassed to talk about everything she was undergoing in her relationship and tolerated it for almost ten years before standing up for herself and calling it quits.

Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan was physically abused by her ex-fiance, Egor Tarabasov. The actress did not speak about the troubles she was going through in her relationship until pictures of Egor being rough with her surfaced on the internet. The actress then mustered up the courage to open up to the Daily Mail and share how Egor was violent with her and had assaulted her multiple times, with the heartbreaking pictures from the Greek island of Mykonos being just a glimpse of one of the incidents that took place. She shared a few details regarding the backstory of the pictures, saying that Egor was too drunk and how she has realized that one cannot stay with someone and endure violence just because one loves them.

The Parent Trap actress further shared another incident that took place in their apartment in Knightsbridge, where Egor strangled her. Lindsay then got out onto their apartment’s balcony and screamed for help when one of the neighbors filmed the incident and made it viral.

Ana Ortiz

The Ugly Betty star was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her boyfriend.

Mena Suvari

Mena Suvari had to be on our list of celebrities who were victims of domestic violence. After all, she was just 12 when her elder brother’s friend raped her and changed her forever. She shared this heart-wrenching incident in her memoir, The Great Peace.

Mena shares how this incident affected her future relationships as she dated a 26-year-old man at the age of 17 who abused her both physically and emotionally. She revealed, “The whole time I worked on American Beauty, I was grinding on empty: working to perfect my part, submitting to [his] demands for kinky threesomes at least three or four times a week, and pretending in both cases that everything was OK.“ She further shared how these events took away even the little self-respect she had.

Rihanna

In 2009, a highly publicized incident of domestic violence took place involving rapper Chris Brown and his then-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, when he tried to push her out of his car. During the night before the Grammy Awards, Brown physically assaulted Rihanna, including hitting her head against a car window and repeatedly punching her. He also threatened to hurt her again once they reached home. However, Rihanna had her assistant contact the police, leading to Brown’s arrest.

Brown eventually pled guilty to felony assault, resulting in five years of probation and 180 days of community labor. A restraining order was also issued, requiring him to stay away from Rihanna. However, the “Diamonds” singer eventually had the restraining order against Chris Brown lifted, and the two even briefly reconciled. In a 2015 interview with Vanity Fair, Rihanna reflected on her experience, saying that she thought she was one of those girls who could tolerate the kind of abuse Chris did and that she might be his “guardian angel,” someone who would always be there with him, help him out in his weak moments and even change him. Thankfully, in 2013, she realized she did not deserve such a partner and finally got out of her relationship with Chris Brown for good.

Jessica Simpson

Jessica Simpson was an innocent child who was wronged at the age of 6 at none other than a family friend’s house. The singer spoke about how she was harassed in her memoir, Open Book. She also shared how she could not muster up the courage to tell her parents about what happened, as she thought she was wrong. However, she could not move on from that incident and began drinking and taking pills in order to cope with it before finally realizing that she had a problem and getting sober in 2017.

Christina Aguilera

According to People, Christina Aguilera spoke to the Call Her Daddy podcast about how she was mentally abused during her childhood as she watched her father, Fausto Aguilera, get violent with her mother. She shared how she “felt isolated” because of everything that was going on in her home and how she saw her mom suffer throughout the years and has not been able to move on from it to date.

The “Say Something” singer further said that her father would often sweet talk after the abuse and say things like he would never repeat his actions. Moreover, while explaining why women do not immediately get out of such abusive relationships, she said, “It is so much more complicated than that, and it’s a mental breakdown of self-esteem, and you start to believe someone else’s narrative and verbal abuse to you.” The singer said that women find it difficult to leave, and it takes a lot of courage to do so. The reason for leaving varies for each woman, and it might be financial, the fear that the authorities will not help, or any other reason.

Marcus Mumford

Keeping his childhood trauma to himself, Marcus Mumford finally accepted in front of the world that he was abused at the age of 6. He shared the news in 2022 with GQ magazine while talking about his inspiration for his song Cannibal. He further shared that the incident did not take place at the church or by any of his family members, but it scarred him for life.

Halle Berry

Halle Berry had an abusive childhood due to her father, Jerome Jesse Berry, being an alcoholic. According to People, she opened up about it in the Fresh Air podcast in 2021, saying that she was abused “verbally, emotionally, physically.”

After her father passed away in 2003, Berry tried to work on her issues with him with the help of a spiritual healer. She was eventually able to forgive her father, realizing that the reason her father acted out was due to his addiction and the generational trauma he was brought up with. This is because the Oscar winner’s father’s father was also an alcoholic, and his mom was also broken.

Angelica Huston

Angelica Huston has led a full life, from being one of the top actresses in Hollywood to being the daughter of director John Huston. However, she, too, was a victim of domestic violence by her ex-boyfriend Ryan O’Neal, who once grabbed her by her hair and hit her forehead with his skull, shaking her to her core. The Addams Family actress shared the incident in her memoir, Watch Me, saying that she immediately ran away from O’Neal.

Jaslene Gonzalez

The Latina model was a victim of domestic violence by her ex-boyfriend, whom she parted ways from before filming for the CW show America’s Next Top Model. To date, the winner remembers that time as one of the worst moments of her life.

Dwayne Haskins

Dwayne Haskins got punched by his wife, Gondrezick-Haskins, losing a tooth. The Steelers quarterback had traveled to Las Vegas with his wife to renew their vows when they got into an argument, which escalated into his wife getting physically violent with him. The police were called to their hotel, and the player was rushed to the hospital.

Melissa Benoist

Melissa Benoist is another victim in our list of celebrities who were victims of domestic violence. She opened up about her experience in a video she posted on her Instagram, sharing how her ex-husband, Blake Jenner, started trying to control her initially and slowly moved towards physically assaulting her. She shared how his behavior got worse with her with each passing day. And now, when she looks back at everything, she realizes that the red flags always pointed toward Blake getting violent eventually.

The actress got into the vivid details of her physical abuse, saying, “The stark truth is I learned what it felt like to be pinned down and slapped repeatedly, punched so hard the wind was knocked out of me, dragged by my hair across pavement, head-butted, pinched until my skin broke, shoved into a wall so hard the drywall broke, choked.” She further said that she would first lock herself in a room to protect herself but failed as the door would eventually be broken down. The final endpoint that led to Benoist walking away was when her ex-husband threw a mobile phone at her, and it hit her eye, tearing her iris and almost tearing her eyeball as well. The impact of the phone was so harsh that it also led to breaking the actress’s nose and causing a swelling in her lip. The Glee actress revealed that she knew at that very moment that she had to leave as things had gotten too far, and her latest injury was so bad that it would never fully heal. In her Instagram video, she also shared the several thoughts she had at the time of leaving her then-husband and how she felt guilty and heartbroken for leaving someone she had been with for so long. The actress filed for divorce in 2016.

Dylan O’Sullivan Farrow

Dylan O’Sullivan was assaulted by none other than her father, Woody Allen. Her father abused her in the attic of their Connecticut home in August 1992, and the actress has talked about it in detail. There is a documentary sharing Dylan and her mother, Mia’s side of the story regarding the assault, along with other people associated with the events called Allen v. Farrow. However, Woody Allen has denied the accusations and said that Dylan had said all this under the influence of her mother.