You may not know who Brittny Gastineau is, so before anyone is tempted to comment “who?” please read the background. Brittny, 31, is a model and a reality star. She had a show in 2005 on E! with her mom called The Gastineau Girls. She also guested on a bunch of other reality shows, like KUWTK, The Hills and Cribs. I know her from her unfortunate cameo in Bruno, where she went along with a particularly outlandish bit with Sacha Baron Cohen in character. She later claimed to be in on the joke.

On Tuesday night, Brittny was photographed by the paparazzi with a huge black eye and a laceration on her cheek. The injuries looked like they were healing and not fresh, and like they must have been extensive. TMZ reported that Brittny went to two paparazzi hotspots that night, so she deliberately wanted to be seen. They also had some details of her attack. Over a week ago, Brittny was at a hotel with a man who beat her up so badly that she had to go to the hospital. The hospital staff notified the police of a potential domestic violence situation, and it’s under investigation. Brittny has hired attorney Shawn Holley to represent her and plans to sue her attacker.

In response to this story, the man who ‘allegedly’ abused Brittny has claimed that she started it, but that he has no hard feelings and that she’s “sweet.”

The man who allegedly viciously attacked Brittny Gastineau was himself badly injured during their altercation … and his lawyer tells TMZ it was a case of mutual combat.

Marquis Lewis — a famous street artist who goes by the name Retna — was dating Brittny. He had checked into the London Hotel in West Hollywood a week ago Monday to recuperate from major knee surgery — surgery that had just been performed.

Retna’s lawyer, Michael Goldstein, tells TMZ … Brittny came to visit a week ago Tuesday night and they got into a major argument.

Goldstein says his client was almost defenseless from the physical attack because he was unable to walk without crutches. We’re told there was lots of swinging, and in the end Retna was also seriously injured — his face and eye were swollen, his painting hand was injured and his ear was cut up.

Goldstein says, “Retna was not the aggressor.” That said, Goldstein tells TMZ his client harbors no ill will, calling Brittny “sweet.” He says, “They’re cool with each other.”

Goldstein says Retna and Brittny are in the process of settling their differences and he’s surprised Brittny made a spectacle last night at paparazzi-riddled restaurants.

[From TMZ]

Isn’t that what abusers always say? “She started it, she’s so abusive, I was just defending myself.” It’s a variation of the “my wife is so crazy, I’m the victim” trope. Poor Retna was so defenseless from his knee surgery that he had to pound the sh*t out of Brittny’s face just to stop her! He doesn’t have hard feelings though, she’s “sweet.”

Radar has a follow up story that brings it home how ridiculous Retna’s claims are. Their source says “domestic violence is a serious crime and it is a tragedy when a defenseless woman is brutally beaten by a man twice her size. The only thing more deplorable than a man laying a hand on a woman is to suggest that she caused it or deserved it.” As far as how Brittny is doing, the source says that she’s “still very scared and traumatized. She has a long road to recovery after sustaining very serious injuries. Friends have been encouraging her to get out of bed and take her life back and invited her to dinner last night.”

I have a lot of respect for the way this woman handled a horrible situation. She got press attention to the fact that she was abused, and she lawyered up and is pursuing a case against her attacker. Brittny may have tried to talk to Retna afterwards or work things out with him as he claims, because that’s often how it works with domestic violence situations. It’s very difficult to escape the cycle of abuse. I only wish all abuse victims had Brittny’s resources.

Brittny in May before the attack:

Update: Here’s a pic of Retna. He’s a big guy, as if that makes any difference at all, and I don’t think it does.

Brittny Gastineau is shown out on 6-10-14 and at an event predating her abuse on 5-31-14. Credit: Pacific Coast News and FameFlynet