We live in age where you won’t get real outrage until there’s video to prove it. Even when a woman comes out and shares her story, people will be quick to push back, defend a player on their favorite team instead of showing one ounce of compassion for someone who’s been abused, who’s willing to share their story and inspire other to break out an abusive cycle.
Addison Russell has been suspended 40 games by MLB after Melisa Reidy published a blog in September, shedding more light on his abusive behavior during their marriage. Even then, too many fans were asking the wrong questions. “Why did she stay with him?” “Why is she trying to ruin his career?” “Where’s the proof.”
The sad thing is that despite whatever Reidy ever says there will be people who will outright dismiss her. But for those willing to listen, it’s important to share this story, read it and understand what an abusive relationship looks like.
When Reidy first published her blog in September, she brought up the physical abuse that she went through during her time with Russell. She didn’t go into specifics and I guess that was reason enough for some people to doubt her story.
Kelly Wallace from Expanded Roster sat down and talked with Reidy about her experience and the result is a terrifying look at how Russell manipulated and abused his ex-wife for years.
.@MelisaReidy is speaking out. It's time for everyone to listen. https://t.co/IHs9NdZRAE pic.twitter.com/6RjxpFnX9W
— Expanded Roster (@expandedroster) December 19, 2018
One of the worst incidents that she remembers with Russell occurred after she went out for a “girls night” with a friend. Reidy says he came to find them and immediately said they were going home. Once in the cab, Russell was yelling at her (“in front of his friend and my friend and the taxi driver”) so she told the cab to stop and decided to get out and walk home. “I was crossing the street, I saw Addison coming out of the taxi. You know, you just know…he just starts running towards me,” Reidy says. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in and she took off running. “He slips…which pisses him off even more. I remember him gritting his teeth. I look back…and so I just try to run. And then everything kind of went sideways.” “He slammed me into concrete…like, football tackled me. His friend was there and Carlie was there and they watched it. I was down, he was on top of me, yelling in my ear, saying, “You like doing this to me. You push my buttons. Do you like it when I get like this? Do you like doing this? You like pushing me to the point where I have to act like this.” When he apologized, she says he told her, “I would never really hurt you, I just needed to get your attention because you weren’t listening to me.”
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Her relief was short-lived, as Reidy says she agreed to come back to Chicago in May after Russell insisted he wanted to see his son. She wanted to see Aiden’s half-sister Mila for her birthday and figured it was an opportunity to see if he’d meant anything he’d told her about how he was trying to change. It was fine for “the first two days”, and then things went right back to how they had been before. “He said something rude to me, and I responded, “What, do I look like a maid or something?” I was sitting on the couch texting…obviously it pissed him off,” She remembers the kids were playing on a small trampoline by the TV. “He walks over and grabs me by my throat and pins me up against the couch. He’s like, “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?” I had to pull my knees up and push him off.”
Tomorrow, Melisa Reidy shares the story of her abusive relationship, her life after divorce, and her commitment to being a voice of hope for survivors of domestic violence everywhere. pic.twitter.com/PQhENOxYvO
— Expanded Roster (@expandedroster) December 18, 2018
The story published on Expanded Roster’s website has created too much traffic causing the server to crash. However, you can still read the entire story in the link below.
Until our website is back up, we've decided to make a PDF version of our feature today available for anyone who wishes to read it right away. The link is below and we will tweet as soon as we're back online!https://t.co/UhV85TWVdz
— Expanded Roster (@expandedroster) December 19, 2018
