Michelle Branch Arrest: Did She Commit Domestic Abuse Against Her Husband?
Musician Michelle Branch was recently arrested for slapping her husband, Black Keys musician Patrick Carney "once or twice." Prior to news of her arrest, Michelle wrote in a now-deleted tweet that Carney had cheated on her with his manager while she was home with their six-month old baby.
Almost immediately, people began taking sides online with some folks calling Branch an obvious abuser, and others mocking Carney for reporting his wife over a couple of slaps. Lots of memes and tweets went around making light of the whole situation with song lyrics. As it goes with Depp and Heard, people have been quick to choose team Patrick or team Michelle.
Such takes are all wrong, and for numerous reasons.
Nobody should be downplaying a slap as if it isn't "real" violence. Per the police report, Carney had no visible injuries. So what? Given the complexities of domestic abuse, it's a very poor precedent to determine that "real" physical assault must meet a certain level of marking or bruising, etc. Mocking an alleged victim is also in terrible taste and only serves to silence future victims who may now fear that their abuse isn't "bad enough" to count.
Let's keep in mind that domestic violence is often progressive, and frequently gets worse with time…
