'Supergirl' Melissa Benoist recalls being 'dragged by the hair, head-butted, shoved into a wall and choked' by abusive ex-boyfriend
'Supergirl' star Melissa Benoist took to Instagram to share a heartbreaking fact that she was a survivor of domestic violence in the past. The 31-year-old actress bravely discussed her harrowing tale in an emotional 14-minute video that she shared on social media on Wednesday, November 28.
"So I don't normally do things like this but I've written something that I want to share, and I wanted to say it in my words and not have to edit it down for publishing," she said in the video.
"I'm gonna read it out loud, and I'm quite nervous so bear with me. 'I am a survivor of domestic violence or IPV (intimate partner violence), which is something I never in my life expected I would say, let alone be broadcasting into the ether'," she explained.
She did not name the person whom she accused of the crime. Melissa simply described him as a "magnanimous person, who didn't really give you a choice not to be drawn to him. He could be charming, funny, manipulative, devious."
In the initial stages of her relationship, when she was fresh off a breakup and not really looking to settle into anything serious, there wasn't physical violence, but subtle emotional ones. He would snoop on her devices and give his opinion on her clothing choices, Melissa revealed.
"None of that registered as abuse, because I was worried about how he felt at that point, to even comprehend how it even affected me. In retrospect, I see that each red flag followed a very clear path on things becoming violent," she said. However, not long after, physical abuse started.
"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 recounted the horrific details of the assaults.
Even as Melissa tried to escape her abusive ex-boyfriend by locking herself inside her room, she soon discovered that it would never work because he managed to break down doors. "I learned to not value any of my property — replaceable and irreplaceable. I learned not to value myself," she said.
The final straw came when he threw his phone at her. "It was a blow to my face with his iPhone. The impact tore my iris, nearly ruptured my eyeball, lacerated my skin and broke my nose. My left eye swelled shut. I had a fat lip... Something inside of me broke, this was too far," Melissa continued.
The actress admitted that "leaving was not a walk in the park" but she managed to do it. She added that she was lucky "the people I let in, the more I was bolstered, I never lost the sense of clarity that kept telling me, 'You do not deserve this'."
In conclusion, Melissa said: "Breaking that cycle was the most rewarding, empowering choice I've ever made for myself. I feel an enduring strength. I will be healing from this for the rest of my life."