Well-known domestic violence victims

Celebrity Domestic Violence Cases

These are well-known figures who have been victims of domestic violence. Wherever possible, citations or references are provided. Please let us know if you have any additions to make, or if there are any inaccuracies on this list. Please keep in mind that partnership violence is often complicated: it can happen to men or women, and it can even be mutually abusive. The point isn't that these people are innocent angels or horrible people, but that domestic violence is more complicated than we like to think, and that it happens to anyone, man or woman, gay or straight. Some of these cases involve mutual violence or ambiguous circumstances, but we generally only add to this list items that involve a convinction or an arrest.

An additional complication is that people will try to cover for violence in their partners, or if they have murdered their spouses, they can make up any story they like. This makes it difficult to discern what is actually happening in their relationship.

Abused Men

• Geno Hayes

  Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker
  / Was stabbed by his girlfriend

  • Nick Stefanov

    was abused by "Real Housewives of NY" star Kelly Bensimon (http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20269066,00.html).

    • Ron Artest/Kimisha Hatfield

      Indianapolis Star Sept. 16, 2002 The girlfriend of Indiana Pacers forward Ron Artest was to appear in court today after her arrest on domestic battery charges. Kimisha Hatfield, 27, admitted striking Artest in the head with her hands on Sunday, said Maj. Dan Nickel of hte Hamilton County Sheriff's Department. Nickel said Artest, 22, who called police, was waiting houtside the Carmel home he is believed to share with Hatfield and the couple's two children when officers arrived. ... The incident comes after Artest was charged this summer with two counts of harrassment, and one criminal contempt charge, for allegeldy leaving another woman a threatening phone message.

    • Humphrey Bogart

      According to several biographies Bogarts' third wife, Mayo Methot, was frequently abusive to him, but one friend described it more a case of mutual abuse, ''their drunken brawls", although friends nicknamed her ''slugsy''. However, in one incident Bogart did receive a minor stab wound in the back.

    • Bobby Brown

      In an April 13, 1999 Associated Press article, Whitney Houston said that she was the aggressor in her marriage to Bobby Brown.

      ''Contrary to belief, I do the hitting, he doesn't. He has never put his hands on me. He is not a woman-beater,'' the singer and actress said in the May issue of Redbook. ''We are crazy for one another. I mean crazy in love, love, love, love, love. When we're fighting, it's like that's love for us. We're fighting for our love.''

      Brown's arrest history includes drunken driving and battery against women other than his wife.

      Brown was sentenced in 1998 to five days in jail and a year on probation for drunken driving. On Monday, a judge in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., put him back on probation for showing up drunk to do his time.

      Ms. Houston conceded that her singer husband is ''a party guy'' who ''likes to hang with his friends. He likes to dance with different people.'' But she said she knows he's loyal to her because ``I checked him out when he wasn't even looking.''

    • Bill Clinton/Hillary Clinton

      According to a generally complimentary biography Hillary's Choice, by author Gail Sheehy, Hillary Clinton has attacked her husband on several occassions. In 1993, Hillary allegedly slashed Bill Clinton's face with her long fingernails, leaving a "mean Claw mark along his jawline." Dee Dee Myers, the White House spokeswoman at the time, later explained to Sheehy that it had been singer Barbara Streisands visit to the White House that had sparked Hillary's rage. According to Christopher Anderson, author of Bill and Hillary, Hillary also assaulted him on August 13, 1999, after the Monica Lewinsky revelations. Anderson writes: ''Much of what transpired next between Bill and Hillary Clinton was plainly audible to Secret Service agents and household staff members down the hall. In the past, Hillary had thrown books and an ashtray at the President--both hitting their mark...Hillary rose to her feet and slapped him across the face--hard enough to leave a red mark that would be clearly visible to Secret Service agents when he left the room.'' Sheehy's account of the incident is similar, though the book also mentions a lamp that was thrown by Hillary Clinton in this or another incident, but she does confirm the the August 13, 1999 assault by a quote from Hillary friend Linda Bloodworth-Thomasen who was staying with her husband in the private quarters nearby who confirmed that Hillary Clinton ''smacked him upside the head.''

    • Joe Elliott, lead singer of Def Leppard.

      On May 5, 1996, police arrested Def Leppard lead singer Joe Elliott and his girlfriend, Bobbie Tolsma, on assault charges. Although Tolsma called the hotel's front desk to report Elliott was beating her, police arrested both of them because they sustained ''mutual injuries.'' Celebrity Watch

    • Scott Erickson - Baltimore Orioles

      In an article by Glenn J. Sacks: ''According to the Associated Press, the Baltimore police concluded that Erickson's girlfriend Lisa Ortiz: initiated the fight by hurling objects; decided to come back twice after Erickson carried her out of the apartment; repeatedly kicked the apartment door; caused Erickson two minor injuries, one of them to his pitching arm; and herself suffered no injuries.'' He has also been charged with assault as well, which makes it hard to determine if there are false allegations on one side, or if it is mutually abusive. According to Celebrity Watch, ''Baltimore Orioles baseball player Scott Erickson was charged with second-degree assault in 2002 after a fight with his live-in girlfriend, Lisa Ortiz. After Ortiz accused Erickson of cheating on her, he grabbed her and threw her out of their apartment. Police say that Ortiz attempted to get back into the apartment and bit Erickson while trying to do so. He then threw her into an elevator. Ortiz said in a statement, 'This is a private matter between Scott and myself…Scott has never been physically abusive toward me, and in no way do I feel threatened.' Charges against Erickson were eventually dropped.''

    • Chad Foreman, by Virginia Graham Foreman (eldest daughter of Billy Graham)

      According to the Smoking Gun, the eldest daughter of Billy Graham, who is also an author of several Christian-oriented books, was arrested on domestic violence charges against her husband. She choked and pushed her husband.

    • David Gest, by Liza Minelli

      According to his lawsuit against her, she had a history of violence during alchoholic episodes. The case has not been settled yet.

    • Chuck Finley, Cleveland Indians pitcher

      According to MSNBC, September 18, 2002: ''Actress Tawny Kitaen agreed Wednesday to a plea bargain on spousal abuse and battery charges alleging she attacked her husband, St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Chuck Finley. Under the deal, Kitaen did not admit guilt but agreed to enter a spousal battery counseling program. If she completes the program and other conditions of the deal, the case could eventually be dropped. The bargain also requires Kitaen, 40, to avoid contact with her husband, stay away from their Newport Beach home and return to court for a progress report.

      Orange County Superior Court Judge Pamela Iles also ordered Kitaen to make a $500 donation to a battered-woman’s shelter, pay $400 in court costs …

      Kitaen, who appeared in such movies as “Bachelor Party” and “California Girls,” was accused of attacking her husband April 1 as the two were returning home from dinner. Police who responded to the couples Newport Beach home said they saw abrasions and scrapes on Finley’s body. … Kitaen was previously married to David Coverdale, lead singer for the British heavy metal band Whitesnake. Finley was playing for the Cleveland Indians at the time of the April incident. He was later traded to St. Louis.

      The Smoking Gun also has information on this.

    • William Green/Asia Gray

      Westlake, Ohio Nov. 20, 2003 NewsChannel5 Cleaveland Browns running back William Green's fiancee is out of jail. ... after posting bond. ... Asia Gray, 22, appeared in court on felonious assault and domestic violence charges after Green was hopitalized Wednesday afternoon with a knife wound to his back. A temporary restraining order was also issued. ... According to Westlake police Gray called 911 requesting an ambulance for him, saying that Green had cut himself. ... Green suffered a puncture would to his back below his left shoulder blade. He said he suffered the wound when he fell going up a flight of stairs while carrying some times, including the knife. An investigation, however, indicated the injury may have stemmed from a domestic dispute between Green and Gray. ... Green and Gray have two daughters together, who are staying with family and friends.

    • Phil Hartman, actor and comedian

      Phil Cook's essay: The Death of Phil Hartman

    • Stephen Hawking, physicicist

      According to many articles, Stephen Hawkings was an abused man.

    • Deidra Lane/Fred Lane

      Charlotee, NC AP Nov 5, 2003 The widow of NFL running back Fred Lane was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison Wednesday for shooting her husband to death three years ago as he walked in the front door. ... She pleaded guilty in August to voluntary manslaughter. ... Judge Timothy Patti gave her the maximum sentence, ruling the slaying was premeditated and deliberate, that Lane acted with malice, and that she shot her husband a second time after the first shot rendered him helpless. ... Fred Lane, a 24-year-old running back for the Carolina Panthers who had recentlybeen traded to Indianapolis, was found dead just inside the front door of his Charolette home in 2000, his keys still in the lock.

    • Abraham Lincoln

      In an article posted on MenWeb, correspondent Barry Daniels interviewed Michael Burlingame, professor of history at Connecticut College and author of the book, The Inner World of Abraham Lincoln

      University of Illinois Press. Daniels notes: As Pokorski noted in his lengthy report, historians have long known that Lincoln's relationship with his wife, Mary, was sometimes tempestuous.

      But beyond that, Pokorski reported, the new book 'cites evidence that Mary was both physically and verbally abusive toward Lincoln' and that the marriage was 'so truly miserable' that 'Lincoln's desire to be away from Mary probably contributed to him becoming president'.

      Or, as author Burlingame more delicately puts it, had Lincoln married a more, uh, congenial wife, he might more likely 'have been satisfied with the modest emoluments of a country lawyer's practice' and contented himself 'in the delights of an inviting and happy home'.

      So I asked Burlingame, who put in 10 years researching his book, would it be fair to describe Lincoln as, in the language of today, a 'battered husband.'

      'Well, yes, he was one,' replied Burlingame unhesitatingly. 'He was in a sense a victim of spousal abuse.'

      For instance, when the Lincoln's were residing in Springfield, in the old home that is now a shrine, one day Abe didn't put more wood on the fire soon enough to suit Mary, so she bopped him with a piece of firewood. 'The next day,' says Burlingames's book, Lincoln showed up for work 'with a plaster (bandage) covering his nose.' On another occasion, the meat Lincoln bought for breakfast wasn't what Mary wanted. Bam! She smacked him in the face and drew blood. The book also cites incidents, as noted above, in which Mary let old Abe have it with hot coffee, broomsticks, and fast-pitch potatoes.

      It got so bad that, according to the book, Lincoln, as a Springfield lawyer, kept a couch in the office where he often spent the night. He also took refuge on occasion with neighbors and friends.

      And being married to Mary and what the book calls her 'ungovernable temper' obviously didn't get any easier after Lincoln became president and had the Oval Office to hide out in.

      In 1864, with the Civil War still raging around him, the book recounts - by way of illustraqting how Lincoln viewed life and strife with Mary - an incident in which Lincoln pardoned a young Union soldier who had been sentenced to death for deserting the army to mary his sweetheart.

      As he signed the pardon, Lincoln commented in an aside to a witness that: 'I want to punish the young man. Probably in less than a year, he will wish I had withheld the pardon.'

    • Warren Moon?

      After deliberating for just half an hour, a jury acquitted Minnesota Vikings quarterback Warren Moon of assaulting his wife, Felicia. The incident occurred in July 1995 at the couple’s home, and their terrified seven-year-old son called the police. Felicia Moon originally told police that she had been beaten by her husband; she had visible injuries. She later insisted to police and to the jury that she had struck first and her husband was merely trying to restrain her. Prosecutors had used a controversial new Texas law to force Felicia to testify against her husband. In interviews after the verdict, the Moons declined to criticize the law, saying simply that it was mis-used in their case. Prosecutors disagreed.

    • Randy McMichael, Miami Dolphins tight end

      ''Randy McMichael had been out celebrating his 25th birthday on Monday. He returned home early Tuesday. He became ill in a downstairs bathroom. His wife came into the room yelling at him and questioning his whereabouts and who he had been with.

      The argument began to escalate. McMichael told deputies his wife hit him across the head with a hand. McMichael said he pushed his wife and she fell to the floor. He denied hitting her.

      Cawanna McMichael, who was weeping and upset when questioned, admitted the escalating argument. She at first said she was not struck. Then she said she had been grabbed by her right shoulder and struck several times. She would not say where.

      "We noticed slight swelling on her left cheek and minor abrasions on her right arm," says the deputies report.

      A taped statement was taken from Cawanna McMichael while photos were taken of her.

      McMichael was charged with aggravated battery on a pregnant female, a second-degree felony that is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

      Cawanna McMichael was charged with domestic battery.''

      Dolphins tight end, wife arrested on domestic violence counts

    • Patrizai Reggiani

      In 1998, Patrizai Reggiani, dubbed the ''Black Widow'' by the Italian press, was sentenced to 29 years in prison for ordering the murder of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci, heir to the Gucci fortune. Four other accomplices, including her personal psychic who helped arrange the murder, received similar sentences.

    • Darren Silver

      Darren Silver was the boyfriend of Tanya Harding. In March 2000, Former Olympic figure skater Tonya Harding pleaded not guilty to charges that she hit her boyfriend, Darren Silver, in the face with a hubcap and her fists. (REUTERS) HARDINGS LIVE-IN BOYFRIEND OF THREE YEARS, DARREN SILVER, 28, AND TWO WITNESSES SAID HARDING REPEATEDLY PUNCHED SILVER AND THREW A METAL HUBCAP IN HIS FACE, LEAVING HIM BLOODIED AND BRUISED. ... WITNESSES SAID HARDING PUNCHED HIM SEVERAL TIMES AND KNEED HIM IN THE GROIN.

    • Christian Slater

      According to news accounts, Christian Slater's wife is abusive, and he may be as well. wife is abusive, and he may be as well. In January 1998, actor Christian Slater, who pleaded no-contest to two counts of battery and one count of being under the influence of cocaine, began serving his 90-day jail sentence just one day after he attended the Hollywood premiere of his current movie, "Hard Rain."

    • Tyrone Williams, Green Bay Packers Linebacker

      Williams troubled at home

    Abused women

    • See: Celebrity Watch

    Abused gay men

    • Glenn Boyanowski, boyfriend of Richard Hatch

      Survivor I winner Richard Hatch was found guilty in September 2001, of domestic assault. Hatch was sentenced to one year of probation for an August incident in which he allegedly shoved his ex-boyfriend, Glenn Boyanowski, down a flight of stairs. Hatch intends to appeal the verdict.

    • Greg Louganis

      Greg Louganis, an Olympic diver, was abused, according to "No More Secrets, Violence in Lesbian Relationships," by Janice L. Ristock. She doesn’t give many particulars other than he experienced intimate physical abuse at the hands of his partner.

    Abused women

    • Amanda Bearse

      Amanda Berase, actress, was abused, according to "No More Secrets, Violence in Lesbian Relationships," by Janice L. Ristock. She doesn’t give many particulars other than she experienced intimate physical abuse at the hands of her partner.

    • Vivianne Gilchrist

      The drug-dealing daughter of evil Big Mags Haney has split with her lesbian partner after a violent bust-up.

      Vivianne Gilchrist was left bruised and needed 11 stitches in a cut above her eye after she was battered by Valerie Haney.