Meredith Vieira Reveals Past Abusive Relationship, TV Host Shares #WhyIStayed—Watch

[steve2470]

http://www.eonline.com/news/580013/meredith-vieira-reveals-past-abusive-relationship-tv-host-shares-whyistayed

Meredith Vieira is sharing her own personal story in a candid fashion—in hopes of helping others who are victims of domestic abuse.

Appearing on her eponymous talk show on Wednesday, the 60-year-old television personality shared a harrowing statistic, telling the audience "every nine seconds a woman is abused or assaulted in this country." She then revealed that she too suffered in an abusive relationship. She cited the recent Twitter trend—the #WhyIStayed and #WhyILeft campaign—which encourages women to share the real and often heartbreaking confessions of domestic violence.

Inspired by the stories on social media and in light of the NFL fallout following the shocking video of Ray Rice punching then-girlfriend (and now wife) Janay Palmar, Vieira chose to share why she stayed in an abusive relationship "many, many years ago as a young woman" after noting that domestic abuse is a "very, very complicated issue."

"It started out with, we would have a fight and he'd just sort of grab my arm," Vieira recalled. "You know, I didn't think a lot about it. And then it turned into pushing me against the wall, then it went beyond that to actually taking his hand and grabbing my face and saying, 'I could ruin your career if I wanted to and no one would want you.'"

video at link

[lpbk2713]

1. I takes a lot of strength to talk about this in public.

I'm glad she did it. Well done Meredith.

[rhett o rick]

2. Brave lady. Bravo for speaking out. nm