Photo by Billboard.com
It’s been a minute since we’ve heard anything from the soulful singer Jazmine Sullivan. She dropped a few hit songs, most memorably her 2008 chart-toppers “Need U Bad” and “Bust Your Windows,” then left the public high and dry, claiming the passion just wasn’t there.
Now she’s back and baring her soul in a whole new way, opening up about her former abuse.
“To be honest, I’ll say this because I don’t say it a lot, but I was in a really bad relationship and it became abusive,” Sullivan told news blogger Necole Bitchie. “Physically abusive, emotionally abusive, everything. It was really bad.”
Like many women who find themselves in abusive situations, Philly-raised Sullivan says it wasn’t easy to leave.
“It took me a while to get to the point where I felt like I was better than that,” the singer says. “I didn’t feel like I was better than that. That’s why I stayed. That’s why a lot of people stay; they don’t think they are worthy to not be in a situation like that. It was not easy for me to get out of that [relationship], but having people around me who love me [and] the support from my parents, my mom, the prayers from everybody and family just being like ‘You know what, this is not love. This is not it.’ That kind of just clicked for me at a certain point.”
Sullivan isn’t the only female celebrity to speak out about abuse. Rihanna, K. Michelle and even former Destiny’s Child member, Kelly Rowland, have all come forward to share their struggles. In an interview with Omg! Insider Rowland shared the trauma she suffered as a result of emotional abuse.
“A piece of me would just go away every time he would say something [hurtful],” she said. “I’ll never forget those things.”
According to the National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1 in 4 women over the age of 18 has been the victim of physical violence from an intimate partner. But there is hope. Every time a celebrity comes forward to share her story of abuse and survival, it helps bring the crisis of domestic violence out of the shadows and into the light, encouraging others to do the same.
If you, or someone you know, is the victim of domestic violence, contact the confidential Domestic Violence Hotline, available 24/7, at 1-800-799-7233 or at www.thehotline.org.
