‘Supergirl’ Fans Support Melissa Benoist After Star Discusses Surviving Domestic Violence

Melissa Benoist shared a vulnerable video on Instagram on Wednesday. The “Supergirl” actress revealed that she is a domestic violence survivor, and her 2015 eye injury wasn’t actually caused by a clumsy slip but her romantic partner.

“I hope that telling my story might help prevent more stories like mine from happening,” she says at the end of the nearly 15-minute video. “I choose to love. I don’t choose to minimize myself out of fear. I choose to love myself, to know that love does not include violence and to let victims know that there is a way out in which you will be protected.”

Fans have been supporting her on social media since the revelation, praising her for her bravery and vulnerability.

Benoist, 31, read from a prepared piece, stating that she’d rather read it in its entirety than have her essay edited for publication. Watch the video below:

Warning: There is a description of the domestic violence below.

The actress made it clear that the relationship was quite violent. “I learned what it felt like to be pinned down and slapped repeatedly, punched so hard the wind was knocked out of me, dragged by my hair across pavement, headbutted, pinched til my skin broke, shoved into a wall so hard the drywall broke, choked,” she said.

She explained her partner’s manipulation, how he’d apologize and admit he was broken. She revealed how she “deluded” herself into believing she could help him change and how she’d forgive him every time. She elaborated on how she hid the damage from her loved ones.

Then, she revealed the worst injury. He hit her with an iPhone and left her with permanent damage to her eye.

“It was a blow to my face with his iPhone. The impact tore my iris, nearly ruptured my eyeball, lacerated my skin, and broke my nose. My left eye swelled shut. I had a fat lip,” she recalled.

She said her vision won’t be the same. Benoist also has a permanently enlarged iris in her left eye.

“Something inside of me broke. This was too far,” she said.

She revealed that they lied to cover for him again, even when the police questioned her. They claimed that she tripped outside and fell face-first into a potted plant. She even told the lie on “The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.”

In 2015, she told E! Online that she had an eye patch on during her first fitting for the Supergirl costume, which was when she was married to “Glee” co-star Blake Jenner (they finalized their divorce in 2017). Benoist never names her abuser in the video.