Robin Givens Shares Rihanna's Plight | 03/11/2009 8:55 am

Robin Givens on 'Larry King Live' Recants Tyson Abuse, is Sad for Rihanna (Video)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Robin Givens on CNN's 'Larry King Live'

Robin Givens, the former wife of boxer Mike Tyson, gave an emotional interview on CNN’s "Larry King Live" last night about being a victim of domestic violence.

Givens, who admitted to being beaten, shaken, pushed, swung, dragged and pulled by the hair by the man she once loved, unfortunately relates all too well with the young singer Rihanna, who was brutally attacked by boyfriend Chris Brown last month. Last night, Givens, 44, had a message for 21-year-old Rihanna: Your story is my story … watch out.

Below is video and transcript from the interview. Watch:

Transcript (via CNN):

Behar: Does this Rihanna/Chris Brown [story] bring up bad memories for you?

Givens: Yes, it does.

Behar: Tell me how you’ve been feeling lately while you’re watching this on television?

Givens: Even sitting now, you know, here with you, it shakes you up. You know, you begin to sweat. You begin to feel sad all over. … It’s hard to sit here.

Behar: You were saying to me before that it’s always the same story. What do you mean by that?

Givens: I’ve spoken to women every[where] … Peoria, El Paso … And what’s amazing is that I find that my story is their story; their story is my story — down to the details. He dragged me down the hall by my hair. He pulled me out of bed by my panties. He would like to choke me. He would kick.

When I wrote my book, I was somewhere talking about something. And a woman came up to me and she said I wanted you to stop talking because I felt like everybody would know that you were talking about me.

Behar: Oh, boy. And it’s the same progression, too, it seems?

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32 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Sometimes it can just be….way TMI!

By deber B on 03/11/2009 11:43 am

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Givens never bothered to talk about Tyson until she could get her face in front of the camera. She is using the Rihanna situation for her own gain. She hasn’t been with Tyson for 20 years, why all of a sudden the concern for battered women. She is a scam. Seen her doing much film work? That would be a no.

She was on a radio show years ago talking how she loved the fact that Tyson is well endowed. Not one mention of abuse. I’m sorry to say in this day of age with so many people bickering, this will never go away.

By Mike Hunt on 03/11/2009 11:33 pm

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I think you mean to say "Recounts," not "Recants." I panicked when I read that!

By Wendi Lawless on 03/11/2009 10:21 am

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Me too, Wendi - my first thought was ‘why?’ Someone should check spelling, usage, and context before posting these articles.

By Green Tears on 03/11/2009 2:10 pm

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I think you mean to say "Recounts," not "Recants." I panicked when I read that! By Wendi Lawless on 03/11/2009 11:21 am

Why would you waste your time correcting someone elses grammer or spelling? You should’ve used the word "meant" than the word "mean". How do you like it?

By Mike Hunt on 03/11/2009 11:36 pm

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btw….I don’t want to sound like this is just male bashing abusers…there are women that do abuse their husbands also, and even though our shelter does not serve many, it does happen….I really do feel for them, because it is harder for a man to admit being abused and seek help than it is for a woman. Also, we have had gay women seeking help from abuse….so DV has no boundaries in who will be it’s next victim.

I do want to say, OJ’s trial did bring DV out in the open, and Denise Brown has done great work for women and she does a great job speaking on behalf of Nicole and getting the message out there.

By Libra Lady on 03/11/2009 11:13 am

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I know you are right………but, it is sure hard to believe it can be the same type of situation. Because "generally" men are bigger and stronger than women — they do have a better chance of getting away while the abuse is actually happening. For instance, in the headlock situation Rihanna found herself in — a guy could get out of that pretty quickly and get out of there. When you have someone who is bigger and stronger coming at you……….it just seems like a different kind of situation perhaps?

By Z **** on 03/11/2009 12:09 pm

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Some men are…and then some women are too. But it does not happen that often, but statistics can only show what has been reported, and many men do not report abuse…although we have had gay men call for help also from the abuse of their partner…and the same for gay women from their partner….I just think men may think that they have no place to go if it happens to them, which can be sad also. DV is a very complicated issue and very hard to understand by many!

By Libra Lady on 03/11/2009 12:18 pm

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Good point about the men perhaps not having anywhere to go once they do get out of the house. And of course, in same sex couples the abused would have the same problem. It is great you volunteer your time to help with this issue. I used to do this and now that I have moved to a different city, I need to get off my own fanny and do the same. Thanks for inspiring me. =)

By Z **** on 03/11/2009 12:27 pm

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Thank you Z…I actually am employed at our DV shelter here going on 20 years….but some of the hours I put are also volunteered. I think once you work with or have experienced DV, the understanding is so much easier…I know it is hard for people to understand how this can happen, but each situation is different…and you said it very well, "until someone walks in your shoes"….I hope you do continue with your volunteering….I keep saying all teenagers need to be aware of DV and we try to do public speaking in many of our high schools here….we have to start there to stop the cycle…teenagers are amazing, and we have had some great fund raising events that young girls have done in their schools. My daughters both volunteered as children advocates in the shelter, and I feel they walked away with a great understanding and I pray they will never have to go through something like this in their life time. I know we may not agree on other topics here, but I think we all have something in common with each other and that’s when the best comes out in each one of us! There is nothing better than supporting women and children! Thank you for inspiring me also. :-)

By Libra Lady on 03/11/2009 12:44 pm

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A side note: to "recant" means to withdraw or repudiate a statement." In other words, Robin Givens did not "recant" her previous statements about abuse, she affirmed her previous statements. Come on ladies, we can do better than this!

By Allene Swienckowski on 03/11/2009 11:52 am

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I KNOW! It’s so annoying! Y’gotta wonder who’s minding the store, sometimes.

By Ms. Dee on 03/11/2009 1:58 pm

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In an abusive relationship the woman ultimately becomes subservient to her abuser. He might hit her once, beg forgivence and because there is love involved, she will. Then he might begin slowly verbally undermining her. This is all a slow process during which the woman’s feelings of self-worth are diminished and she starts to believe what her abuser is telling her,and often feels she deserves to be hit. She might be afraid to leave as fears she will be unable to support herself and nobody else would ever want her, as she is now a victim of her abuser who controls her.Often they are afraid to leave because they fear their abuser will stalk her, and it remains easier to just stay, because by that point they feel worthless and deserving anyway. Sometimes the ones who do leave are stalked and are killed by their former abusers. Happens a lot here. This is an extreme case, but there are a lot of women in these relationships now living in sadness aand fear. It’s hard to get help too, unless you go to a battered woman’s shelter, as ordinary counseling tends to blame the woman for what is happening to her.

By Lizzie R. on 03/11/2009 10:47 pm

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How very funny that GOLD DIGGER by the name "Robin Given" was talking about domestic abuse, specifically on how Mike Tyson abused her. I guess she is on drug. She was amongst those that ruins tyson life. May she burn in hell fire.

By sean brown on 03/15/2009 10:39 pm

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It’s funny that when ppl talk about Robin Givens and Tyson nobody ever brings up the fact that Robin faked a pregnancy to get Tyson to marry her. Don’t get me wrong, it’s never acceptable to hit a woman but Tyson never laid a hand on Givens, she’s a scam artist….soon after they married Tyson and his camp learned this when Robin faked a miscarriage. This is all documented but for some reason ppl don’t like hearing this side of the story. Tyson was never convicted because there was never any evidnece….Givens scammed Tyson into marrying her and then used the "domestic violence" card to get divorced and take half of his earnings. I see Givens on Oprah spouting the same fake story….like i said it’s never okay to hit a woman but Oprah along with this whole movement loses all credibility when they have scam-artists like Givens representing them. You’re sinking lower and lower with each day Givens, the truth will set you free.

By John Doe on 03/19/2009 7:10 pm