'Supergirl' star Melissa Benoist's husband Chris Wood extends support after her domestic abuse account
After 'Supergirl's lead actress Melissa Benoist came forward with her jarring story of domestic abuse, her husband Chris Wood showed his support to her. Her confession extended to a hashtag #IStandWithMelissa and a tweet from Chris that read, "Happy Thanksgiving! I’m going to kiss my wife and hold her tenderly. All day. And every day. How do YOU show love?"
Melissa had earlier revealed that the final straw in her relationship was when her boyfriend threw an Iphone at her face, causing her a permanent vision issue. In her video that went viral online, she cited statistics from CDC informing readers that one in four women in the USA aged 18 and older face physical violence by an intimate partner in their life.
Melissa explained, "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 added that she had met him at a time in her life she was not romantically interested in him. "The impact tore my iris, almost ruptured my eyeball, lacerated my skin and broke my nose, my left eye swelled shut."
Melissa added, "Leaving was not a walk in a park," and that it was an "event" and "process".
She had shared the video on Instagram, elaborating on her experience as a survivor of domestic violence. "Something inside of me broke, this was too far."
Melissa also added that she "doesn't normally do things like this", but wanted to share her story on her own terms and not get edited in publishing. She did not name her abuser, but said that he was younger than her.
At first, Melissa was married to her 'Glee' Co-star Blake Jenner.
Melissa Benoist acts as Kara in 'Supergirl' which airs on The CW on Mondays, 9 pm.