Entertainment Tonight managed to get photos of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Taylor Armstrong in the hospital after she was allegedly abused by her late husband Russell Armstrong and the photos do not show a pretty picture. In the photos, Taylor is showing a very serious-looking black eye that was presumedly inflicted on her by her husband. The photos are graphic in nature as they do appear to show some of the physical abuse she claims she suffered at the hands of her late husband … abuse that most assuredly would’ve continued had she not gotten away from him. Be warned, the video below autoplays.
These photos are difficult to look at and even tho I do not normally post these types of images, I think in this instance … it’s important. The photos likely came from Taylor herself who reportedly has been documenting the abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband. Bravo TV and the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills show has been taking a lot of heat in the wake of Russell Armstrong‘s suicide because some people believe that the show was part of the cause of his suicide. IN MY PERSONAL OPINION, the show very likely saved Taylor‘s life. Had she not gone on the show, away from Russell and into the support of the other ladies … I am convinced that she would’ve been injured far more than these photos show. Let’s not forget, Russell himself admitted to “merely pushing” Taylor from time to time … which, IMHO, is enough to warrant her to leave. I absolutely believe her when Taylor says that Russell abused her. What is upsetting is that undoubtedly, people will blame Taylor for all of this … they’ll say she brought the abuse on herself and/or they’ll say she is profiting from telling her story and on and on and on. Domestic violence THRIVES on silence and secrets. It’s only when abuse victims speak out that they have a chance of survival. If you are horrified by these images, GOOD — you’re supposed to be horrified. Again, I must reiterate my personal belief that at the very least, in some respects, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills show saved Taylor Armstrong‘s life. I’m utterly convinced. And as horrible as these photos are, at least there is comfort in the fact that Taylor will NEVER suffer this or any kind of abuse from the man she claims hurt her for so long.
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I’m glad she released these photos, too…lots of media outles are painting him as a victim of the RH/Bravo monster, and poor poor him, he was driven to suicide. The REAL victims in this situation are Taylor and her daughter and people apparently need to be reminded of that.
Russell was a troubled man, and suicide is tragic in general… but now she’s free.
@cmc — I wholeheartedly agree.
Considering they probably would have ended up leaked at some point, I’m glad she was able to have the strength to do this herself. The only thing I worry about is the impact on his children so soon after having to deal with their father’s choice to commit suicide. But really they aren’t going to come out of this situation unscathed either way. I hope the best for them all & that they have much better days in the future.
Speechless!!! That is HORRIBLE!!!
This actually startled me when I saw this. No wonder she is the way she is.
I understand this is a difficult time for Taylor, but I do remember last season she put together a charity for women of abuse because she grew up in an abusive home. If that was the case, why was she still with this man and why was she letting him around their children? I’m sure Taylor will speak out about it all eventually and I truly hope she learns to break the cycle of abuse in the future for her children’s sake.
I think it’s a lot easier to talk about escaping violence and what you would do under similar circumstances, but I believe we can’t judge until we’re in their shoes. Many women blame themselves for the violence they endure, many don’t have self-worth (even if they can fake it), and we live in a society that blames women when they’re beaten or raped. We have so much victim-blaming going on rather than support for people who have endured violence that many women feel a lot of shame believing they should keep their personal lives private or that they somehow caused their own victimization.
It’s easier said than done to escape an abusive marriage. Initially (in most situations) the relationship is wonderful and almost too good to be true then after some period of time the emotional abuse starts then escalates to physical abuse. Then the abuser is “sorry” and promises it will never happen again and swoons their victim and thus the cycle begins again. By the time a woman is at that stage, she is convinced she’s worthless and powerless. I am going to guess this was the scenario for Taylor and when you have a child involved it makes it just that much harder to “make a move” due to fear. She also probably never had in depth counseling to address her childhood issues. I wish there was more education around this because people truly don’t understand the dynamics that go on and make unfair assumptions or judgments.