Michelle Branch was arrested for domestic violence for slapping her cheater husband

Last Thursday, reports started to come out that Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney were splitting after seven years together. Carney, who is the drummer for The Black Keys, met Branch in 2015 as she was getting out of her first marriage to Teddy Landau. Carney and Branch got engaged in 2017, and in April 2018, they welcomed their son Rhys James Carney. Earlier this year, they welcomed daughter Willie Jacquet Carney. Branch also has a 17-year-old daughter, Owen Isabelle Landau, with her first husband. So, Branch and Carney seemed happy together. Then early Thursday morning, she tweeted this:

She later deleted it, but she clearly just learned at that moment that Carney was cheating on her just months after she gave birth to their daughter. Something else happened in those early hours on Thursday: Carney called the police on his wife and pressed charges against her for… slapping him. She clearly slapped him because he cheated, and then he got the Nashville police to put her in handcuffs:

Michelle Branch was arrested for allegedly slapping her estranged husband, Patrick Carney, in the face … this in the wake of her claim he cheated on her. According to docs out of Nashville, obtained by TMZ, on Thursday at around 2 AM police were called to their home for a possible domestic disturbance. Michelle admitted she had slapped Patrick in the face “one to two times,” according to court docs.

Patrick did not have any visible injuries and Michelle was taken into custody. Her bail was set at $1,000 … and it appears she was released from custody early because she’s breastfeeding the couple’s 6-month-old.

TMZ broke the story, Branch and Carney are splitting after 3 years of marriage. She told us Thursday, “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”

The split announcement came just hours after Michelle tweeted accusing Carney of cheating. Michelle was previously married to Teddy Landau from 2004 to 2015, but married Carney in 2019. We reached out to Michelle’s rep … so far, no word back.

[From TMZ]

While violence is never the answer, I think most women completely understand what happened and why she reacted that way. And dear god, Patrick Carney cheated on his wife and then called the cops on his wife when she slapped him? WTF?? I hope she hires the best lawyer in Nashville and makes Carney pay through the nose.

Also: this gives me a new perspective on Jack White’s years-long beef with The Black Keys. I wonder if White knew something we didn’t.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.

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140 Responses to “Michelle Branch was arrested for domestic violence for slapping her cheater husband”

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  1. equality says:

    It’s no more acceptable for her to slap him then it would be for him to slap her if the situation were reversed. She should have kept her mouth shut and admitted nothing.

    • Lisa says:

      Men who cheat on pregnant wives are lucky just to get a slap. What a pussy to call the cops on her. She should have denied it.

      • Sue E Generis says:

        I think the whole situation clearly illustrates what kind of person he is. She should run.

      • B says:

        Yes but if she denied it, then they would ask her when she was under oath and things like settlement and custody were being decided. She doesn’t need to be branded as a liar in court.

      • MeganC says:

        No, she should not have lied to the police. One, it’s against the law, and two, who knows what kind of surveillance is in their house. It could very well be on video.

        She should have invoked her right to remain silent.

      • Eloise says:

        What disturbs me most of all is he was fine having her arrested despite having an exclusively breastfed child, so they had to release her because he put the child in harms way taking away her food source at such a vulnerable age. POS.

    • Lolo86lf says:

      If there were no witnesses to support his claim of assault by her and he had no evidence of it other than his word why did she confess to it. She should have denied it. Is it a thing with straight men that they cheat on their girlfriends or espouses when they are pregnant or after giving birth?

      • Elin's golf club says:

        I do wish she had taken a page from the male playbook and denied everything, or at least not confess.

        Ladies, if you are in this situation, do not talk to the police and DO NOT confess or admit to anything. However, the police would have probably arrested her anyway, because if there’s one thing you can count on it’s for police to do the absolute worst thing possible during domestic violence calls.

      • HelloDolly! says:

        Yes, Branch’s in-the-moment confession clearly shows she is an honest person, while her soon-to-be-ex husband comes off looking like a d*ck, honestly. I love Jack White, and now I suspect the Black Keys are full of themselves. #TeamBranch #TeamJackWhite

      • Myeh says:

        Never talk to the police. For all we know he was recording her without her knowledge to get a more advantageous position for custody/settlement. Men know all about exerting leverage because they always have more so when they’re in a position when they don’t have the upper hand by default they do everything possible to revert to their default natural state. She should have kept her cool. He’s not worth it

      • Jess says:

        It actually is a thing. My therapist said that the rate of cheating is higher during pregnancy and after birth because men’s egos can’t handle not being the center of their partner’s world anymore. Childish and disgusting.

      • Nuks says:

        Yes. I’ve seen men cheating or trying to the most when their wives/girlfriends are pregnant or have just delivered/have very young children.

    • Thinking says:

      I’ve never done it but did she slap him across the face like you see on soap operas ? If so, I’m trying to figure out whether that could actually hurt a man’s face. I think of a punch as being painful, but does anyone know how how painful a slap across a man’s face is? I’ve never ventured to do this but seeing this done on soap operas has probably skewed my perception of whether this actually hurts a man. The slap could be considered insulting, but I’m confused as to whether it has the same force as punching a man in the face.

      • VivaAviva says:

        A slap can definitely hurt a man’s face and leave temporary evidence (red hand print) if one slaps hard enough. I’ve heard. 👀

      • Thinking says:

        Ok.

        I wondered if maybe she didn’t mind being arrested since i could sort of see a fair amount of women reacting like that to what he did, even if it’s something people shouldn’t necessarily act out.

      • Lucy says:

        @thinking – a slap to *anyone’s* face hurts, is violence, and is considered assault.

      • Thinking says:

        Fair enough. It’s not something I would do, as I would be afraid of what kind of damage my hands could potentially do. I don’t want to find out the hard way that I could have done serious damage.

        At the same time. I vaguely remember reading Tiger Woods’s wife getting pretty angry after he she caught him cheating. I can’t remember if she actually did anything to him physically, but didn’t she smash the windows of his cars with his golf clubs and chase him out of the house with them? S , Therefore. I also think a woman’s anger upon realizing she’s been cheated on could potentially take on different forms and is not necessarily uncommon, and I’ve wondered how the courts view the context.

        Maybe it would have been safer for her to just slash his tires, although I suspect you could get in trouble for doing that too.

      • BeanieBean says:

        It’s more about the humiliation than the pain.

      • Lady D says:

        LOL @ VivaAviva.

      • BrickyardUte says:

        Many years ago when my partner was at the depths of their alcohol addiction, he stayed out all night drinking on Mother’s Day while I was home with the baby. I was so hurt, angry and worried for his safety. When he appeared in the morning hours without an once of regret or emotion, I lost all composure and slapped him twice in the face as hard as I could. It did not improve our situation but I honestly have complex feelings around my actions. While I don’t believe in hitting, I was also trying to navigate being a new Mom taking care of myself, my new baby and walking that impossible line between supporting and not enabling my husband who I had been with for over 10 years as he descended into alcohol addiction. It was stressful for all and we both made so many mistakes. I am happy we were eventually able to overcome this and his addiction. For anyone in my situation- please seek Al-Anon. It was a game changer for me, and helped me to better understand addiction as a disease and gave me the support needed to take care of myself and my family. 💚
        Michelle’s husband, if he was cheating, is a real scumbag. We don’t know all the situation details but I don’t think she posed a physical threat to him. Cheating and then calling the cops for a slap from a person that you physically dwarf seems like a reach from me. Both are wrong but I see cheating as the worse offense.

    • Lizzie says:

      It seems to me much more acceptable, due to the fact that its much more dangerous for a woman to be in a domestic violence situation, than for a man – women regularly get killed in such situation, while men almost never do. Not to mention that police regularly overlooks or even condone violence against women, so women have nowhere to go. The difference when you reverse gender is staggering.

      • Both Sides Nowt says:

        @ Lizzie, it is. Had the tables been reversed, they would have told Branch that there were no signs that she was slapped and left. With the line of wasting their time on her “claims”.

        May Carney now deal with having the mother of his newborn arrested, handcuffed and sent to jail. What a POS.

      • equality says:

        There is still the fact that with small children in the house they don’t need to see violence from either parent. And by slapping him she actually gave him power over her to use in custody disputes and in having her arrested.

    • Mrs.Krabapple says:

      I agree. Abuse is abuse, and women do not get a “pass” to hit men. I hope everyone with sons are not raising their sons to believe that a woman is entitled to hit him. I am also surprised how many people are defending Branch’s assault. They seems to pay lip service to “domestic violence is bad, but . . . ” As my dad always said, just ignore everything a person says before the word “but.”

  2. SarahCS says:

    The police were called to a situation involving domestic violence and they took action. I wonder how many women are seeing this and wondering at what they had to go through before they were taken seriously by the police. Or those who are no longer with us because nothing was done before it was too late.

    • Otaku fairy says:

      Agreed.

    • Lucy says:

      This is very true. All calls should be taken as seriously as this one was.

    • lisa says:

      I once had to call the police on a man who was trying to use his car as a battering ram against the front door but the steps were in the way. the police told me that pranking 911 is a crime and the next day an officer came by to question me to see if they wanted to charge me for lying. after he walked over the damaged steps.

      • WingKingdom says:

        Omfg

      • Julia K says:

        That should surprise me but it doesn’t. Too many times women are treated like trash. If you were a white male that never would have happened.

      • BrickyardUte says:

        I am so sorry that happened to you. The handmaiden’s tale had this line:

        “Men are afraid women will laugh at them. Women are afraid men will kill them.”

        I am a feminist and believe men are equal to women. But I also recognize disparities and while we all should have the same rights and experiences that is not how the world operates. The color of your skin should not determine your safety during a traffic stop. But it does, and pretending it does not does nothing to move the needle. Same thing with domestic violence. It’s not an absolute and there are nuances with every situation, but you can advocate for equal rights and still recognize certain populations suffer more than others.

  3. D says:

    He cheats on every partner he has. He cheated repeatedly on his first wife, he cheated on his second wife with Branch. He’s a piece of crap.

    • Lens says:

      That’s where the ‘if he cheats with you he’ll cheat on you’ and ‘once a cheater always a cheater’ comes from. Because cliches are rooted in truth. And to the person who asked if straight men are susceptible to cheating on a pregnant or postpartum woman I would say yes. Your attention and energy is focused on a new life and some men can’t stand to be second.

      • Surly Gale says:

        mine sure couldn’t stand being second. We didn’t know what it was back then, but I believe I suffered from post-partum. And we had to go back to work at 4 months, and I was full up with me, the baby and the Caesarean wound. I begged him to be patient, but when he screamed at me “I feel like having an affair” was when I knew it was over for good. Imagine saying that to the mother of your newborn son. Boom. I don’t know if he cheated on his first wife, but screaming to me he wanted to cheat on me and had someone from the bank all lined up crushed all hope of reconciliation! So he was gone from my and our son’s lives, and then he died.

    • Shiv says:

      Now that is tea ☕️ I never knewwwww

    • coleamb says:

      He grew up in my hometown and ran in the same circle as my sister (she dated another drummer). He has ALWAYS been a rude jerk to literally everyone, who also immediately started running around on his g/f as soon as the band started picking up traction. Like, openly cheating on her. It was almost in a cruel way. Not surprised he called the cops on her.

      Also, I don’t think anyone should lay hands on anyone… but it sucks that a man called for help bc of a domestic violence situation and it was taken seriously. Wish that could be true for anyone who is not a white male. Michelle’s better off without him.

    • swiftcreekrising says:

      YES! There was a whole article talking about how reprehensible he was to his first wife – he has *always* been this person.

  4. smegmoria says:

    I bet that his fee fees were hurt super bad because she wasn’t available to yank on that d. Or I know, I know…. he probably just wanted to be super sweet and reward her for all her hard work by trying to suck on the tittites. Men are big babies when babies are born.

  5. Laugh Lines says:

    I don’t condone domestic violence But… any man who cheats on his partner while she’s staying home taking care of their toddler and new baby deserves more than a few whacks upside the head. He’s lucky that’s all he got. And no, I would not be saying the same thing if the situation was reversed; a woman nursing a newborn and caring for a young child gets a pass from me that a man never would. Call me hypocritical – I don’t care. What he did takes a special kind of cruelty to even contemplate doing to a partner.

    • Ella says:

      Saying someone “deserves more than a few whacks upside the head” IS “condoning domestic violence.” Every time someone beats a partner they think the partner deserves it. Every time.

      • Laugh Lines says:

        You’re right, Ella. That statement of mine was intellectually dishonest. So to be honest with myself, I will have to admit that there are a very few circumstances in which I will condone violence, and this is one of them. Not saying it’s the best response, but I certainly don’t believe she should be punished for it.

      • VivaAviva says:

        @Laugh Lines, I think she should be punished, but I assume the punishment for a first offense would be light. In this situation, I’d gladly take my punishment. #worthit

      • Lucy says:

        This. Domestic violence is unacceptable, regardless of gender.

      • February Pisces says:

        I don’t condone violence, but I can understand why she slapped him. The emotional pain he caused doesn’t come close to the physical pain from one slap.

      • PPP says:

        If we have learned anything from The Trial That Shall Not Be Named, power dynamics are important, and coercive control escalating into abuse is a very different thing from a shocking betrayal leading to a single, unprecedented, and unintimidating act of violence.

    • Elin's golf club says:

      @Laugh Lines I’m with you.

      Cheating on your post partum wife while she is taking care of your newborn IS domestic abuse, just not legally. He was not even harmed! But she is, her entire life was exposed as a lie.

      • Lolo86lf says:

        I hope that most men don’t cheat on their pregnant/postpartum partners. It is emotional abuse to the woman to cheat on her especially at a vulnerable time like that. I am not a woman but I have been told that pregnant women’s hormones are all out of synchrony and they feel not well. After giving birth women often develop postpartum depression and their bodies have to heal. Cheating on women at this time is EXTRA cruel.

      • Both Sides Nowt says:

        @ Lolo86lf, it is. It’s incredibly taxing on the woman’s body, on top of the emotional roller coaster of emotions. But I must admit that it’s quite common, or was, for men to expect intercourse from their wives before they are allowed to they have healed for the 6 week period.

        I only say this as my mother was a nurse and she had caught so many husbands having intercourse with their wives after childbirth while they were still in the hospital after having given birth!! She had seen it on a constant basis. Now I know that this was up until the ‘70’s, but some men have had a history of taking their needs over the mothers health.

    • Julie says:

      100% this. Also cheating and exposing your partner to STDs is abuse, not to mention the emotional abuse and gas lighting that go along with cheating.

      • Lucy says:

        That’s a good point, Julie. While I can’t get behind the slapping, I really feel for her and the situation she’s in.

  6. VivaAviva says:

    I know that assault is assault and she was wrong, but if I’m being honest, in her position I probably would have decided that being arrested was worth it. 🤷🏾‍♀️

  7. Steph says:

    When I first saw this I laughed and thought “this dude is such a little b*tch!” Then I sobered up and thought “hmmm, this might be a custody move.” Cheating is bad but assault is a crime. This may come into play it he decides to dispute her parenting fitness.

    • Zapp Brannigan says:

      I can’t see this being a custody move, two little kids in his care means less time for him to get his di#k wet. This was a “put her back in her place” move because he didn’t want to deal with the emotional fallout of his infidelity.

    • Lens says:

      You maybe right. Cheating is never an issue regarding custody but an assault… And men who never took care of their kids always seem to want custody anyway. It’s a power move. They are MY kids.

    • Truthiness says:

      While going through our divorce (we have a son) there was one long weekend where my ex was clearly baiting me to slap him. At one point it was just too much, I broke and I slapped the wood floor, nowhere near our son. Called the lawyers immediately the next morning so that all parties knew we would take the baiting to the judge.

  8. Cava 24 says:

    I doubt there was a pattern of this happening and I doubt that he was actually in fear of his safety, there’s a big height differential there. His first wife wrote an essay about their relationship and it seemed pretty volatile so it’s not like he’s never been in a tense domestic situation before. This seems situational in nature, not like an ongoing thing. All that said, it’s not okay what she did, she should get some court-mandated anger-management therapy.

    The management co should have policies in place to prevent these sorts of relationships. Even when there isn’t cheating, there’s potential for it to go south and impact the professional relationship and for it to create other issues. Also, I would think it would be helpful for employees to be able to point to the policy to deflect romantic interest from their clients.

    • SAS says:

      @Cava 24, I am 100% in agreement with your entire comment but just a quick language note from someone who works in the field, “anger management” counselling is contra-indicated in cases of domestic violence offending.

      It doesn’t entirely seem to apply to Michelle here, but generally it’s accepted that domestic violence offending is related to exerting power and control rather than an inability to manage anger. In fact abusers are very intentional with when, where and how they direct their anger.

      • Jess says:

        This! It’s also why abusers learn to abuse better when they go to conventional therapy. I highly recommend reading Why Does He Do That by Lundy Bancroft to everyone in this thread. It was very enlightening and had me shaking and crying at points realizing how much more abuse I was being put through underneath all the obvious stuff.

  9. ThatsNotOkay says:

    No injury? No doctor’s visit? No assault. Maybe she has to plead to a misdemeanor or maybe all charges get dropped if she does community service. THAT’S how it’s different if a man does it to a woman, generally. A woman might end up with an injury…which the law still might ignore because it does very poorly handling dv issues, and prefers not to punish men for it. And in many states, you can slap people all day long because it doesn’t amount to assault when there’s no injury. Wish people would remember this each time this stuff happens.

    • BeanieBean says:

      And by arresting her the police get to pretend they’re not biased, that they take ALL domestic violence incidents seriously, etc., etc.

  10. Otaku fairy says:

    Obviously she, like Will Smith, was wrong and violence is not the answer to infidelity, no matter who does it. This will probably be blown up for MRA agendas though.

  11. girl_ninja says:

    Interesting that she slapped him but she’s the one with the mark under her eye and on her lip. Six months after having a baby one is still dealing with a LOT of emotions. Them dump in them their husband has cheated and it’s a wrap.

    He could have left her alone to get through the initial shock but didn’t, he called the cops. What a disgusting man. I hope that those babies and Michelle comes out of this better on the other side.

    • Cali_girl says:

      i did see that SHE was the one with a visible mark but SHE was the one that was arrested for domestic violence? what a load of crap. this will make it harder for victims of dv to come forward.

  12. Colby says:

    Some men do a little too much f*cking around and not enough finding out. Sounds like this guy is a complete POS and had a slap coming for years.

    Don’t get me wrong, it shouldn’t go any further than that. But I’m looking around and I’m fresh out of any “give a sh*t” on his behalf.

    • TIFFANY says:

      “Some men do a little too much f*cking around and not enough finding out.”

      THANK YOU.

      A slap was the least of what he deserved. I said what I said.

      He called the cops because he wants to pay at little as possible in the divorce. He is gonna use that slap as part of the settlement. Bet on it.

    • tealily says:

      This.

  13. AppleCart says:

    Allegedly he is a serial cheater and this was his 3rd marriage. Remember if he cheats with you he will cheat on you.

  14. HeyKay says:

    My now Ex cheated on me while I was pregnant and carried on thru the first year of her birth. During which time, gf became pregnant and gave birth.

    I wish I had had the strength to slap him when I learned of his betrayal!
    I was so unhinged and in shock, I needed to be seen be a doctor and medicated, due to depression.

    I divorced him ASAP.
    No one deserves to be treated this way.
    I wish her and her children peace.

    • Both Sides Nowt says:

      My lovely narcissistic ex-husbands explanation for his mistress was that he wanted sex everyday and since he worked in Houston from M-F, he “needs” were justified. The only thing that I considered doing in an act of revenge was to cut the crotches out of all of his pants.

      The greatest insult was that I was a native Houstonian and he had taken he to visit our mutual friends while he was in Houston with her on his arm. Not one of my gf’s told me, as I was in FL raising our newborn son. That hurt the most.

      • Southern Fried says:

        Ugh, one of my girl friends not only didn’t tell me but went over and ransacked my closet. I’d moved away with the kids immediately since they needed to start school in new town so with that and setting up a new home for them meant I’d didn’t get back right away to finish packing. My ex had a garage sale to get back at me so this woman just helped herself to my things AND the kid’s things to give her own. Ick I haven’t thought about that for years. I refused to speak to the girlfriend for yrs until she searched me out on SM. Then I got the satisfaction of telling her publicly what a complete twat she is before blocking her.

      • Julia K says:

        Yes. Out of the many cruel and dishonest things my daughter’s former husband did was take his mistress to the neighborhood block party while she was driving their child to camp. Not one person told her, and she was friends with several women there. That hurt her almost as much as his infidelity.

  15. Valois says:

    His first wife said he was a terrible husband and cheated on her. He cheated on his second wife with Michelle and now he cheated on her. He‘ll cheat on the fourth one, too.

    • pk says:

      The sad part is he will find a fourth woman willing to marry him ! Women need to be smarter. Seriel cheaters don’t change. *looks over at Tristan Thompson*

      • Julia K says:

        Somewhere there is a person dating your ex who thinks she has found Prince charming. These men always find another victim

  16. Mousey says:

    I wish emotional abuse was considered a crime. Because what he did emotionally was the equivalent of a punch to the face

    • KC says:

      Agreed! And then followed with another to the gut if he indeed CALLED THE COPS for two SLAPS from a barely out of post-partum, hormonal woman breastfeeding HIS 6 month old and caring for HIS toddler after she’d just learned that HE cheated on her. I am so disgusted! She must have been real mad and aggressive because if she didn’t stab or shoot him he could have had the decency to just remove himself from the situation but who am I kidding, he has no decency. Clearly he was ready to move on and could have left that relationship a long time ago.😒

      No, she shouldn’t have slapped him but she did and it’s understandable given the circumstances. What he did is emotional abuse that is far worse than the physical abuse she inflicted IMO and the punishment she received didn’t fit the crime/circumstances if he was the one calling the police, which makes it so much worse to me. He sounds like a narcissist.

      • Mslove says:

        A narcissist who probably knows which buttons to push to make her lose control like that. He knew what he was doing.

  17. Boxy Lady says:

    *If* all she did was slap him once or twice, it’s a little disturbing to me that she’s the one who ended up with the mugshot all over the internet. With the cheating, she seems to be the wronged party in this situation.

  18. ME says:

    I heard he wasn’t the one who called the cops…a neighbor did. Also, if we aren’t ok with a man slapping a woman, then we shouldn’t be ok with a woman slapping a man. Same rules people !

    • Kati says:

      Thank you! Almost every comment starts with, “I don’t condone violence, but…” Being cheated on is shocking and hurtful, but slapping a partner is domestic violence. This will absolutely impact her custody position.

      • VivaAviva says:

        To be fair, I said that I know it is wrong and I would have done it anyway, not that I don’t condone violence. Not all violence is physical. IMO, he committed violence first.

    • Lucy says:

      Yes. The excuses being made are uncomfortable to say the least.

      • wtf says:

        Most of the comments here are insane! Violence is never the answer. Sucks if he cheated on her but we can’t play this game of sometimes a slap is ok.

    • Kebbie says:

      That would be interesting. If it’s true that the neighbors called then it was probably pretty bad. I think most people look at 6’3 Carney and his wife who is nine inches shorter and think “one slap across the face would hardly be painful for him.” Whether that’s fair or not, I think it’s where most people go.

      I admit I did kind of wonder why you’d call the cops on your wife for a slap when she’s still breastfeeding your baby. But I also recognize that’s not fair and domestic violence is domestic violence.

    • Kokiri says:

      Sure.
      Just as soon as laws & statutes of limitations changed to reflect reality for women & people with a uterus, & laws are not enforced & applied by the very people they are meant to protect (hint: it’s not the victims).
      Then we can talk about the “same rules”.

      Because they AREN’T the same rules, not even remotely the same.

      • ME says:

        When I said “same rules” I was talking about people’s reactions. If you get angry when a man slaps a woman, you should also be angry when a woman slaps a man. Violence is not ok, regardless of gender !

      • Kokiri says:

        Most of the reactions are based on the knowledge that people are not equal under the law.
        So no, the reactions aren’t the same.
        We know. We know how Michelle will be vilified, how incel will use this as proof to further erode our rights, use it as more reason to harass & abuse us. We know the police will use this to harm us.
        Any man who hits a woman will be just fine. Even if they go to jail, they will be just fine.

      • Surly Gale says:

        And the physicality of the assault is different too. An average woman’s upper body strength in no way matches the upper body strength of the average man. Reaching up to slap is less powerful than reaching down.
        A woman slapping a man will leave a mark. A man slapping a woman could cause the brain to collide w/skull and cause permanent injury.
        The comparison is not equal. Neither are the rules applied as if they were the ‘same’.

      • Thinking says:

        Violence is wrong, and in general I think would get outraged if a woman is violent with a man. I’m pretty sure I thought Emma Roberts was in the wrong for doing what she did to her boyfriend.

        But this Michelle Branch’s husband sounds so terrible, it’s hard for me to get worked up on his behalf. I’m sure he’ll be fine in the future. both mentally and physically.

    • amilu says:

      Not here to throw in my thoughts on the definition of assault, but —

      I street-viewed their…street, and it’s in ritzy Forest Hills and full of multi-million dollar houses and mansions on large lots. They might have taken their fighting outside, but I’d be inclined to believe that he’s the one that called the cops from inside the home.

      • Kebbie says:

        Yeah, I’m not sure where OP saw that. I googled it after I posted my comment, and I couldn’t find anything that said it was a neighbor who called.

    • Emmi says:

      But it’s not same rules for men and women. That’s so naive. Best case scenario, she just packs up and leaves but he sounds like a piece of work and probably pushed every one of her buttons. Humiliated her and caused her incredible pain. So she lost it and slapped him. Yeah, that’s exactly the situation most women in DV situations experience. Right? No. And it’s so telling that police immediately arrested her. Either she more than slapped him or they took very swift action on a woman while ignoring what most men do to their wives in these situation. So no, not the same rules by a long shot.

      And I’m not going to go with “I’m against violence but” because that’s dishonest. If you want to call her slap violence, then in this case, I’m not bothered by it.

      If this was your best friend or sister, you wouldn’t be bothere by it either.

  19. February Pisces says:

    My guess is he’s doing a Johnny depp and trying to turn the tables around to make himself look like a victim. Cheating on your wife who has just given birth looks very bad for his image. But now #mentoo, misogynists and pick me girls everywhere will probably side with him.

    Of course slapping someone is never the answer, nor does it achieve anything. But when you have been betrayed in the worst possible way and your whole family is ripped apart, in that moment all logic and reason goes out of the window. His actions have caused not only his wife a great deal of emotional trauma, but also their children too.

    • Concern Fae says:

      That was my thought. There are also people who are really good at provoking violence in others so that they can be the “victim.” My ex would block me into a corner screaming at me, but when I pushed him to get away, I had shoved him and I was the violent one. He’d never hit a woman. No just terrify her.

  20. Bunny says:

    Men very often accuse their partners of cheating, which they then use as an excuse to beat her half to death or worse. It was a crime of passion, your honour.

    I’m not saying that she doesn’t have proof. She probably does.

    What I am saying is that if this is an excuse for domestic violence, women will suffer disproportionately. Violent Men’s Rights followers and Incels already latch onto every perceived difference between men and women as an excuse to abuse and harass women.

    • Both Sides Nowt says:

      @ Bunny, the trend in our society in this day and age has become a much more dangerous for women. I think that men are feeling as though they are losing their power over women, as well as their delusions of ownership, which has created a greater threat of violence against women.

      The INCEL group is a threat to women across the world. The number of women that have been harmed by this group is alarming and I haven’t seen their group acted upon, which is a another example of women being considered second class citizens.

      (Unless the authorities have taken steps to destroy their group, I haven’t heard of it happening but maybe it has/or is.). I do think that they should be classified as a threat to women, labeled as such in an international setting.

  21. Joan Callamezzo says:

    She had a baby 6 months ago, finds out her husband has been living a double life and exposed her to STDs (emotional and sexual abuse) and she only slapped him once? She was honest with the police? I’ll allow it.

    • Em says:

      Me too.

      Emotional abuse can be far more painful than people realize. It is generally perceived as somehow less severe than physical abuse. And, usually, the perpetrators of emotional abuse face zero consequences. Sure, she shouldn’t have reacted violently. But we cannot deny that he was emotionally violent with her.

      It’s a nuanced situation. And I don’t think it’s a serious position to say that they are equally in the wrong. They are not.

      He tore his family and partner apart – may he somehow establish some stability with her for the sake of their young kids. My guess is he’ll continue to play the victim.

  22. freddy says:

    The number of “but she was pregnant and he cheated” comments needs to stop! So many men have been arrested for domestic abuse for shoving a partner after being slapped or returning a slap, so it’s a total case of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. My suggestion to folks–keep your hands to yourself. As for Michelle–instead of TWEETING about his cheating, she should have packed up and bounced never to see him again and to speak only through her attorney.

    • Red says:

      I’d love to see the stats on this because I don’t believe that “so many men have been arrested for domestic abuse for shoving a partner after being slapped or returning a slap”. Because that’s bs. It’s a false equivalency.

      • VivaAviva says:

        I agree, Red. Long ago, my parents had an altercation. My father came home drunk, my mother said something he didn’t like and he punched her in the face. Her face was bruised and swollen. After he hit her, she told him to get out of her house and when he refused, she went into the kitchen and grabbed a knife and told him not to come near her.

        The police were called and my mother was arrested and fired from her job, even though my father struck her and she grabbed something to protect herself with but didn’t threaten him. She took her job to court to get her job back. The court ordered her reinstatement. Why? Because she was able to produce multiple men from her job that had assaulted their wives and been arrested, yet hadn’t been fired.

        Until the legal system treats violence against women the same way they treat violence from women, I don’t buy the “same rules apply” stuff. My father could have broken my mother’s jaw, but she was punished. GTFO.

      • Erin says:

        @vivaaviva- holy shit I’m so sorry you and your mom went through that. It’s disgusting the way our society treats women but then turns around and expects them to follow rules that men never have to follow. Woman will always be blamed by some people in any situation no matter what but men are always given the benefit of the doubt. Woman are expected to control ourselves in every situation and men can lose control whenever they want but he must’ve had a reason right? Men get to act on their emotions but women can’t and need to stay silent and be the adults in the room at all times. We are always the babysitters even for full grown men. The internal misogyny isn’t getting knocked out of us fast enough.

  23. Michael says:

    Wasn’t he cheating on his first wife when he got with her? Did she not see the writing on the wall?

    • Valois says:

      No, he was cheating on his second wife when he got with her. At that point, the first wife had already publically talked about the fact that he had cheated on her, too.

      • Michael says:

        Geez. Well he is obviously a scummy person and hopefully no woman will marry him in the future unless he changes completely (unlikely)

  24. Madchedda says:

    Does anyone else notice the total hypocrisy between this slap being condoned by the majority here yet Chris Rock and Will Smith people were out for blood.
    I can see how both these situations happen, that doesn’t make it right but in both cases they were slaps that likely ruined the slappee’s pride more than hurt
    I’m just a little shocked at the difference

    • FHMom says:

      I’m not sure I understand your point. People were very divided on the Will Smith slap. Secondly, this was a case of domestic violence between a cheating husband and his wife. What if it was a parent slapping a child? That would also be a different situation and different level of outrage.

    • Lucy says:

      It’s a lot of folks justifying slapping someone in both cases.

  25. K-Peace says:

    Carney is a pathetic douche, cheating on his wife while she’s pregnant and/or postpartum, and then calling the cops just for her slapping him?? I don’t blame her for slapping him. And like the police don’t have anything better to do than deal with this non-existent issue with this wimpy asshole?!

    And yes I’ve always believed Jack White that the Black Keys are douchebags—especially Carney. (Years ago i read a long essay his first wife wrote about what a cheating dick he was.) I’m a big fan of Jack and he seems to have a lot more integrity than Carney.

  26. cleak says:

    Totally agree. Also, in her mugshot under her eye looks red… I can’t shake the feeling that he hit her back.

    • Kebbie says:

      That’s a port wine birthmark, she usually covers it with makeup

    • LynnInTx says:

      It’s a port wine stain, a birthmark. She’s talked about having it before, she just usually covers it up with some kind of makeup.

      I honestly don’t see why she’s so surprised at the revelation. He’s cheated with ALL his partners, and he cheated on wife #2 *with* Michelle. How she thought he’d stop for her is beyond me.

      Domestic violence is never okay, in my book. I don’t care who the perpetrator is and who the victim is. And, in my opinion, unless we want to start down the whole “hormones make women crazy” thing, using postpartum status as an excuse isn’t an acceptable either.

    • H says:

      I read that today. It seems both he and the first wife cheated, but while she presented their relationship as a love affair which eventually lost its way, his Rolling Stone interview painted her as a gold digging harpy out to drag him down. He’s a d-bro and his bandmate? Another a-hole to the 9th degree.

  27. Lila says:

    1. The timing sucks. Being cheated on anytime would hurt, but postpartum and breastfeeding? Such a vulnerable time.

    2. Not sure why it’s such a shock…this dude has a very clear pattern.

    3. I hope they can swiftly make an environment that will be safe and nurturing for the kids. Sounds like these two need to be apart.

  28. Owlsyn (Ableism is Not Cool) says:

    It’s not okay to hit someone. The story should be about a shitty husband cheating on his wife while she was at home with their baby. Instead it’s a pretty disgusting pile of it’s suddenly okay to assault people if they’re bigger than you and they -really- deserve it.

    She’da had the upper hand if she had stayed her hand.

  29. Cortney says:

    How you get them is how you lose them.

  30. Onomo says:

    Sigh. This is terrible, for him, for her, for their kids. I think I read that 86% of women in prison are victims of abuse, and I wonder how many cases are like this – he was abusing her, emotionally and she was wrong to slap him, and this is all just a reminder that cops aren’t your friend.

    are we as a society going to talk about how many abused women are in prison for imbalances are coming into play – when a disabled person reacts against an able bodied person who has been abusing them, or the cyntoia brown case, or vulnerability a pregnant woman or mom of two toddlers faces when her partner leaves and cheats. I’m not saying all those things are equivalent, but I feel like it says something he felt comfortable calling the cops and knowing they would be on his side, and he didn’t have to be worry about being a perfect victim, which is what I worried about when I was a victim of domestic abuse – that my cis het male ex could easily make me out to be the crazy one, that he could say I had retaliated against his abuse, and then it becomes a he said/she said, with society predisposed to believe the male side.

  31. Bisynaptic says:

    Wow, he looks like such a catch.

  32. Joanna says:

    It’s upsetting to see some of these comments! So if she had cheated on him, you would be ok w him slapping her? I don’t think so. Violence is never ok or right. She shouldn’t have slapped him. Do I feel for her? Yes but she is in the wrong

  33. Thinking says:

    When the Will Smith Oscars slap occurred, legal scholars weighed in on articles stating that what Smith did might only be a misdemeanour and that’s why he wasn’t arrested. Overall, I’m not sure what the consensus is on a slap, but there does seem to be some wiggle room as to what it counts as legally.

    In that sense, I can see why people might not have a totally horrified reaction to Michelle Branch slapping her husband, even if we know that violence is wrong.

    I thought Will Smith slapping Chris Rock was wrong and shouldn’t have happened, but I didn’t necessarily worry about Chris Rock’s personal safety in the long run either. I thought the whole incident was embarrassing for Smith and stained his reputation on his big night. But I think that was the extend of my reaction to it, and that’s probably what I think here too. I don’t think her husband’s life is in danger in the long run, although I have no idea how the judge will rule on this case.

    That said, if her husband had slapped her, I would most definitely be horrified because he looks like a giant and she looks like a very petite woman. Yes, size might be impacting how I view this situation.

  34. AmelieOriginal says:

    They named their daughter Willie? Dear Lord.

    I just recently became aware of Patrick Carney because I watched a few random Youtube videos of Black Keys concerts. Most of the commenters were criticizing his drumming technique, seems like he’s really not that great of a drummer. He’s also not that good looking either. Maybe he had an amazing personality, who knows? Anyways this is sad and I hope Michelle has a good support system to lean on as she leaves this dbag and restrains herself from violence in the future, though I totally get why she snapped.

    • Mila says:

      I can’t with that name. Willie. For a baby girl. That’s abuse in itself

      • amilu says:

        I read that it was his grandmother’s name, and his grandmother hated her name with a passion. I think that’s a really odd way to honor her. Also read that Michelle did not want to use that name. He was quoted as saying, “I really doubled down on something here.”

        He just sounds like a controlling controller.

  35. Lola says:

    I actually had a very similar story to one someone posted above. I was with a guy who had been abusing me using every category of abuse there was. He would also bait and taunt me as much as he could to try to get a reaction to justify abusing me. We were breaking up and I had a week left until I could move into my new apartment, and I had nowhere else to go. He was bringing back “friends” of mine to sleep with and leaving their underwear hanging from the door nob. He blocked and cornered me into a area of the kitchen and was in my face. Playing the abusive man version of the “I’m not touching you” game. I had to fight my way out to get out of the house and get to my car, and on my way out I grabbed a knife to take with me. As I pulled out I was sobbing and driving erratically and was IMMEDIATELY pulled over by a police officer. Seeing this my ex assumed I was about to make a police report on him, which I actually had no intention of doing, so he decided to get ahead of it and make one on me. He did not succeed in getting me arrested but he did tell the cop I had a knife, and the cop saw it in my car, so he was able to get a temporary restraining order on me. Due to this I was then forced to make a police report on him as well, which I wasn’t intending to before. I then had to show up in court to fight the restraining order which was luckily dropped quickly. But yes that’s the sort of thing these men do, and abusive men can and do EXTREMELY OFTEN manipulate law enforcement and the court system to terrorize their targets even more.

    P.S. I never spoke to that ex since that day, but guess who keeps repeatedly contacting me every year or two even though this was many years ago?

  36. Dss says:

    She is his 3rd wife. He cheated on 1st and 2nd. No surprise there. Damn, rock star or not, he is butt ugly.

  37. Kate says:

    If I read one more comment about violence never being the answer…Anyone who says that is speaking from a place of breathtaking and blind privilege. It’s peak victim blaming. You have no idea what it is like to be in an emotionally abusive situation where coercive control is involved. You have no idea what was happening before she slapped him. Did he threaten to take the children from her? Did he threaten one of the children? Did he “hint” that he would harm one of the children? You don’t know. You don’t know what this trash bag of a human being was doing and saying before she slapped him. She may have slapped him to get the neighbors attention to get help from the police.

    I grew up in an abusive upper middle class family and the police never did a damn thing to help any of the women or children that were being abused. Everybody blamed the women and the children.

    I have never slept with my bedroom window open because I fear violence from a man. I legally keep weapons in my home and in my vehicle because I fear violence from a man. I could go on and on about all of the things I do and don’t do because I fear violence from a man. You better believe that violence is the answer if I think me or my child are in danger. It’s the only language abusers recognize.

    Nearly every movie in the theater and on streaming services involves violence. We are surrounded by violence. It’s so commonplace that most people don’t recognize it. Please start recognizing all of the violence around us before making privileged statements that violence is never the answer.

    • Lola says:

      Thank you. Abusive men are EXTREMELY well aware of how much every single aspect of their society is stacked in their favor and against women and children. I alluded above how I was blocked and cornered in a room by an abuser who was playing the abusive man version of the “I’m not touching you” game. Most people who have been in an abusive relationship are all too familiar with this game. I had to fight my way out to get out to my car. According to the smug, privileged, righteous ones, I should have stayed there cornered as long as he wanted to keep me there, until he decided to start hitting me or sexually assaulting me (again) because “violence is never the answer.” It’s like they’re looking for ANY excuse, any excuse at all, to victim-blame and dog-pile on to get their own kicks in too. The MOMENT she tries to defend herself in any way you can then point the finger and say “she’s abusive too.” It’s evil.

      • Kate says:

        Thank you, Lola. It’s amazing how every woman I know has either been sexually assaulted, abused, and/or is closely connected with at least one girl/woman who has been assaulted/abused but very few men know of any abusive men in their lives. Hmmm…

        We allow violence against children in schools. If another student pulled my 14 year old child’s hair and kicked them out of their seat it would be brushed under the rug. If I did that to a co-worker I would be brought up on charges. Many schools still allow corporal punishment all the way up through high school. In what universe is it acceptable for a 45 year old vice principal to paddle the behind of a 16 year old girl or boy because they were late to class or talked back to a teacher? But violence is never the answer. /s

      • Onomo says:

        This comment is for Lola. I see you, I hear you, I have been in your shoes and yup, my abuser also keeps trying to contact me. I saw a tweet that said, “Men cry as they confess their secrets to you and it’s literally abusing women,” and oooooo I felt that.

        I need feminism to have a convo about how men use the police – the systems are not there for women and children.

        Thank you for sharing and you are SO strong.

  38. tealily says:

    I don’t know, like, to what level she was slapping him, but it still seems like a total asshole move to call the cops on her in that context.

    I do just want to throw out there that Jack White is also a complete asshole, so I don’t think anything about Carney’s cheating should put that feud in a new light.

  39. Abby says:

    Man, my opinion is going to be completely biased because I adore Michelle Branch and credit her music with defining my high school experience.

    This makes me sad for her to have her husband cheat on her while she has an infant. It’s hard for me to have sympathy for her jerk husband. I can’t condone physical violence but… yeah, this is tough. I also kind of got the skeevy vibe from his guy, always.

  40. Mila says:

    You lose them how you get them…. He’s always been a POS