Jonah Hill is being exposed as a real creep — but it’s Sarah Brady who’s responding to the most criticism. Internet is going to internet, we guess…
The surf pro decided to call out her movie star ex amid his rebranding as “the mental health guy.” She revealed he had been using therapy language to try to dominate her, demanding she not share swimsuit photos (a necessary part of her job) and not speak to men — and calling it all his “boundaries.”
While there are folks who sided with Jonah (and those who will always side with the man in the situation), many on social media recognized right away how this was not healthy boundary-setting but typical controlling boyfriend BS, just dressed up in a psychobabble package.
Related: Zoey 101 Star Says Jonah ‘Assaulted’ Her When She Was 16
The thing is, in order to show everyone this behavior, she had to show everyone the behavior. That meant sharing screenshots of private text messages. One criticism Sarah has been hit with over and over is that she’s wrong for violating an ex’s privacy. And that one she agrees with! She returned to her Instagram Stories, the scene of the crime as it were, to explain it’s a necessary evil:
“Yes, it’s tacky and a violation of privacy to share private messages, however, the reality is, when someone is in an emotionally abusive relationship screenshots are the only pieces of evidence they have to prove that what happened to them was real.”
Yeah, it’s a really good point. How many allegations over the years have been cast aside as “he said, she said”? Even worse, when the guy is famous and beloved and no one wants him to be a bad guy, the woman is treated like a lunatic or worse for making up such a story. Sad but true.
Speaking of Jonah’s fame, Sarah also addressed that unusual aspect of her relationship — and of course the reason we’re all so interested:
“And of course my situation is unique because my ex is a public figure, but I believe this is an important conversation to start amongst the community of survivors of emotional abuse.”
It’s a good way to get us all talking about it, that’s for sure. Especially with it dropping at the same time as Keke Palmer‘s BF pulling the same crap on her.
Finally she mused about whether there was a better way than sharing private messages, another path to proving her case:
“Is there a right way to document your abuse, and share it, so that you are not alone in your perception?”
It’s a really good question. We’re guessing not. As a society we of course prioritize our privacy — except in the case of revealing worse offenses. It’s not like we get more pissed at the informant wearing a wire or the agent raiding a building than we do at the criminal they’re exposing. Well, most of us don’t…
What do YOU think of Sarah’s point here, Perezcious readers??
[Image via The Tonight Show/YouTube/Sarah Brady/Instagram.]
