Usually, I don't talk about the NFL anymore after the first winless season in 32 years. But, I have to bring up this story since it deals with domestic violence when celebs are involved. A Tampa Buccaneer linebacker is recovering after being stabbed in the neck by his girlfriend. Via.
The girlfriend of Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Geno Hayes stabbed him in the head with a pair of scissors and in the neck with a knife, Hillsborough County deputies say.
Hayes was taken to a hospital by a friend, and he was treated and released, Hillsborough County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Carter said.
Deputies arrested 19-year-old Shevelle Bagley at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Carter said.
Bagley was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
The incident began with an argument Saturday, and Bagley grabbed a pair of scissors, stabbing Hayes and causing a superficial wound to Hayes' head, Carter said. Hayes got the scissors away from Bagley.
Then Bagley "grabbed a knife and stabbed him in the neck," Carter said.
Bagley's bail was set at $25,000. She has since been released.
Hayes, 21, was a sixth-round pick by Tampa Bay in the 2008 NFL Draft. The former Florida State University player made eight tackles last season for the Bucs.
Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.
Speaking of domestic violence amongst celebs, Oprah Winfrey warns Rihanna that Chris Brown will hit her again.
Oprah Winfrey has a message for pop princess Rihanna, who prosecutors say was beaten to a pulp last month by boyfriend Chris Brown: "He will hit you again."
Former Manhattan sex-crimes prosecutor Linda Fairstein's warning is starker: He also could kill you.
Fairstein compared the fist-happy crooner to O.J. Simpson, who repeatedly beat his wife without consequence before she was slain in 1994.
Rihanna's reported reconciliation with Brown after her Feb. 8 pummeling sparked an outpouring of debate, controversy and motherly advice.
"Love doesn't hurt," Winfrey said on her show Friday, while announcing she will dedicate a program this week to discussing domestic violence.
"I want to do a show about it, dedicated to all the Rihannas of the world."
Speaking directly into the camera, Winfrey said, "If a man hits you once, he will hit you again. He will hit you again."
Sex crimes expert Fairstein warned Rihanna - as 21-year-old Barbadian singer Robyn Rihanna Fenty is known - that she risks not just another bloodying, but her very life.
"Many of the circumstances in her case were like the early warning signs in the O.J. Simpson case," Fairstein said.
She pointed to several "red flags" that suggest Rihanna could be in the same danger as Nicole Brown Simpson was 15 years ago, getting hit repeatedly but not pressing charges and then reconciling with the former running back.
The allegation that Chris Brown choked Rihanna while saying "Now I'm really going to kill you" is a particularly bad sign, Fairstein said.
"Choking behavior is a very interesting factor. It's hands on, face-to-face. It's a very intimate type of violence," she said.
New police techniques that assess an offender's potential lethality based on a list of warning factors should be used in this case, Fairstein said.
Also, a Real Housewife of NYC was arrested for assaulting her boyfriend.
New York's newest "Real Housewife" is denying blockbuster charges that she beat up her boyfriend, but the bruised beau said it happened - and it wasn't the first time.
Kelly Killoren Bensimon, 40, was arrested last week for misdemeanor assault after 30-year-old Nicholas Stefanov called cops, saying she punched him.
Bensimon, who appears on Bravo's hit reality show "The Real Housewives of New York City," hit him "with a closed fist, thereby causing informant to suffer a laceration below informant's left eye and substantial pain," the criminal complaint he filed with police charges.
The model/editor/reality TV star - who is actually divorced - turned herself in Thursday, two days after the incident. She was released on her own recognizance.
"The allegations are by a jilted lover saying she struck him during the course of an argument," said her lawyer Stephen Turano. "We deny the charges, and we are hopeful this will be resolved."
In an exclusive interview, Stefanov said he still loves Bensimon, but blamed stress from their recent engagement and the pressure of being on the show for causing her to snap.
"She is a great girl," he said. "I do want to work it out. But what are you supposed to do when a girl is hitting you, just sit there like a punching bag?
"If I had hit her, I'd be sitting in a jail cell right now," he said, adding that it was not the first time he's been socked by Bensimon.Stefanov said he called cops because he wanted the incident on the record, but that he doesn't want to press charges. It's out of his hands now, however, as cops are obligated to charge Bensimon and even filed a restraining order against her on his behalf.
Stefanov said the couple was fighting over the "usual stuff that couples fight about." Stefanov said Bensimon "sucker-punched" him during the fight, but noted that at least she "had the courtesy to take her [engagement] ring off first." She also returned it to him that night, he said.
Turano took issue with Stefanov's account.
"They are most certainly not engaged and his allegations of past abuse are false," the lawyer said.
Fellow "Housewives" co-star Bethenny Frankel stood by Bensimon: "I cannot imagine this being true, but all I can say is love shouldn't hurt."
Bensimon was married to famed fashion photographer Giles Bensimon until they split in 2006. They have two daughters.
In recent years, Bensimon and Stefanov have been staples of the society pages, photographed together at swanky celebrity parties.
Bensimon is due back in court March 31. Turano said he doesn't think the charges will stick.
A Bravo rep declined to comment, saying, "We don't comment on the personal lives of our talent."
Outside her posh SoHo home, Bensimon refused to comment Monday night as two doormen shielded her with an umbrella and tried to shoo a reporter away.
I shouldn't have to do this, but I applaud the NYPD for arresting the abuser in this case. And I really do hope that the charges stick. What better way to send a message that domestic violence will not be tolerated by sending the newest member of the Real Housewives of New York City off to jail for some time.
Also, the New York Daily News FINALLY had a common sense poll. It was about whether Ms. Bensimon should be charged. And the results were, to my surprise, very encouraging:
21 out of every 25 people who voted said that Ms. Bensimon should be charged with assaulting her boyfriend.
I think Mr. Stefanov should follow the EXACT same advice Ms. Winfrey and Ms. Fairstein gave to Rihanna. Because the fact and the matter is: Ms. Bensimon could indeed kill Mr. Stefanov the next time.
With that said, here is the problem I got with each one of these cases -- Samhita hit on this last month when it was first reported that Chris Brown was arrested for domestic violence.
Famous men, as well as famous women, have no right to privacy whatsoever. Almost as soon as Ms. Bagley and Ms. Bensimon were arrested for beating up their boyfriends, the media immediately released the names of the male victims.
That is the beef I have. And it is a huge one at that.
It is NOT OK that the media ran the name of the Bucs linebacker that was stabbed by his girlfriend. It is NOT OK that the media ran the name of boyfriend that was beaten by Ms. Bensimon. And it is NOT OK that the media ran the name of the Barbados music sensation after she was beaten up by Chris Brown.
The least these sleazy media outlets could do is respect the domestic violence victim's privacy.
