Jana Kramer revealed very personal details about an abusive relationship she had when she was younger and how she once feared for her life.
While highlighting Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the singer shared a photo from her teen years where she sat on her mom’s lap as the two smiled at the camera.
In the photo, she wore a white tank top with a brown headband while her mom sported a black top and silver chain necklace.
“This is a very hard photo for me to look at. One might look at this and see two smiling faces. A daughter with her mom. But what was under the smile is something that I still to this day have a hard time talking about,” she began in her emotional Instagram post on Saturday.
Jana said she wouldn’t reveal the name of her ex, she knows who he is and what he did without needing to give him recognition.
“I don’t remember the excuses that I told people when I flew home to escape my abuser about the cuts and scrapes on my shoulder and arms, or why my ribs were hurting. But when I look at this photo that’s all I see,” Jana continued to say while holding back emotions that she still feels.
Kramer, 38, continued to claim that she had been a broken girl at that time. Weeks prior to the photo, she had been pinned down to the ground while the man that claimed to love her, was strangling her and saying ‘I’m going to kill you’. She felt full of shame at the life she was leading at that time in her relationship.
Kramer, who is currently dating Ian Schinelli, described that she would allegedly be choked and hit “because I was bad,” which then lead her to believe that she “deserved abuse.”
“I’m still trying to walk through knowing that wasn’t the last abusive relationship,” she further claimed. “I speak out to help others and to hopefully help at least one person who is reading this to talk to someone.”
Kramer urged her followers, fans, and anyone who will listen, “Don’t wait until you lose your breath, your life, your heart, your soul if you are feeling abused in your relationship.”
“I am linking in my bio a place to find help. @safehorizon and so many places are there for you. Please talk to someone,” she concluded in her lengthy message on Instagram.
Following her post, many took to the comment section to offer support and praise her for her work with domestic violence survivors.
Author Gabrielle Bernstein wrote, “God bless you sister,” while actress Shantel Van-Santen shared, “Im so proud of you for sharing. You are one of the strongest humans I know and your capacity to help others with your stories is inspiring.”
This isn’t the first time Kramer has revealed her past encounters with abuse. Previously, in another Instagram post, she stated, “I allowed certain behaviors to continue on because I actually believed the negative voices in my head that were spoken to me. Don’t believe them when they say things like: “I barely pushed you, don’t be so dramatic…you bruise easily , I hardly touched you, you’re crazy.”
The message followed her finalized divorce to ex-husband Mike Caussin, with whom she has two children with, after she accused him of adultery in their marriage. Kramer filed because the NFL player had cheated on her again.
The singer was first married to Michael Gambino, who was convicted of attempted murder after he strangled Kramer into unconsciousness. He was released in 2010 and died by suicide two years later.
She then married “That Thing You Do” star Johnathon Schaech in 2010 but split after 12 days and finalized their divorce in 2011.
