Twitter rallies around Melissa Benoist following IPV revelations
Supergirl star Melissa Benoist shocked the world Wednesday when she shared, in harrowing detail, her past experiences with Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) via Instagram.
In an IGTV stream, Benoist bravely recounted being both emotionally and physically abused by a former partner over a period of several years, culminating in a nearly blinding 2015 injury to her left eye after having a cell phone thrown at her (at the time, she claimed to have tripped and hit the eye on a potted plant). Benoist's revelations quickly went viral, and in response thousands of colleagues, fans and friends showed solidarity with the hashtag #IStandwithMelissa.
Happy Thanksgiving! I’m going to kiss my wife and hold her tenderly. All day. And every day. How do YOU show love? #IStandWithMelissa
- Chris Wood (@CHRIStophrWOOD) November 28, 2019
-Chris Wood, Benoist's husband
Melissa Benoist is a superhero on and off screen. The amount of strength it must have taken to tell her story is unimaginable. #IStandWithMelissa
- Katie Minard (@KatieMinard) November 27, 2019
-Katie Minard, Social Media Specialist at Backstage
Not all heroes wear capes. But some do. Watching this is hard, but knowing the kind, gentle, GOOD soul Melissa is makes it that much harder. #IStandWithMelissa https://t.co/E0OJEBHaiL
- Marc Guggenheim (@mguggenheim) November 28, 2019
-Marc Guggenheim, writer-producer
#IStandWithMelissa ALWAYS
- Julie Gonzalo (@julie_gonzalo) November 28, 2019
-Julie Gonzalo, actor, Supergirl
This is strength #IStandWithMelissa https://t.co/07U8IHzQfW
- Beth Schwartz (@SchwartzApprovd) November 28, 2019
-Beth Schwartz, showrunner, Arrow
It’s not too late for Richard Linklater to re-cast and re-shoot the first section of his MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG. #IStandWithMelissa
- J❄️anna Robinson (@jowrotethis) November 28, 2019
-Joanna Robinson, senior writer at Vanity Fair*
* The timeline of events recounted by Benoist has led many to conclude that the ex-partner in question is Blake Jenner, to whom she was married from 2015-2017. In August, it was announced that Jenner had been cast in Richard Linklater's two-decade spanning big screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along.
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