Meredith Vieira opened up about struggling to leave an abusive relationship, even when she felt she had the means to leave the man who claimed to love her.
Vieira, 60, opened up to the audience of her new talk show, “The Meredith Vieira Show.” Vieira described a specific instance of abuse where her ex-boyfriend left her naked in the stairwell of their apartment for two hours.
The conversation stems from the leaked video of NFL player Ray Rice hitting his now wife Janay Rice and knocking her out unconscious. Rice is also seen dragging her body out of the elevator, but Janay ended up marrying him soon after the incident.
"There was the night, we shared an apartment, and he threw me into a shower, naked with scalding water, and then he threw me outside into the hallway," Vieira said.
The talk show host claimed she has thought a lot about why she stayed in the relationship for as long as she did. She explained at the time she believed she may have contributed to the abuse, as the ex-boyfriend would always end the fights in tears promising he would never hurt her again.
"Part of it was guilt ... I would feel like maybe I contributed somehow to this. And they are saying this about Ray Rice's wife, that it takes two to tango," Vieira said.
She also understands why many women stay, even when they’re considered to be too “smart” to get themselves into an abusive relationship.
"A lot of people say, 'Well, who would stay in that situation? Somebody who doesn't have the wherewithal to get out, the means to get out.' I had that. I had a job at the time and I kept in this relationship,” she told the audience.
Watch Viera describe her experience with domestic violence, why she finally left her ex-boyfriend and why some woman have difficulty leaving in the video below.
