James Brown’s Daughters Discuss Forgiving Him For Domestic Violence
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James Brown’s daughters opened up about their complicated relationship with their father. During a new interview, Deanna Brown Thomas and Yamma Brown, discuss how they came to forgive the musician for violent domestic abuse against their mother Deidre Jenkins when they were children.
“When you see a family member being hurt, you’re not feeling the best about the person that’s hurting them,” detailed Yamma to PEOPLE. “I was flat-out upset, mad with my dad at that moment. I still go back to that place every now and then, not to belittle my dad, but flashing back over my own life and the domestic violence situation in my life, thinking how much of that shaped me.”
She continued to explain how at 6-years-old, she jumped in to prevent an attack on her mother. She describes the incident as the last time she saw her father hit her mother.
“It is an unfortunate time in anybody’s situation, anybody’s life. If they’ve ever had to go through domestic violence, they know what that’s like,” she added. “And it shows that he was human because he was flawed, but it also is a time to show grace… That’s how I think about it, in order to move on from that space, you do have to talk about it, you do have to acknowledge that it happened.”
Deanna also elaborated on how her relationship with their famous father evolved.
“There was a time when I didn’t like my father. I didn’t like him because of this type of behavior. I saw a lot growing up. I heard a lot growing up that could have damaged me for a lifetime,” she said. “He never had any type of rage towards us because we were his children. That was a situation between a husband and a wife. There’s different type of love, different type of circumstances.”
Yamma later added, “My dad did apologize to my mom. Not to say that that was something that just erased everything, but also knowing that he had compassion in his heart and my mom was receptive to that.”
The abuse allegations against the world-renowned Godfather of Soul were not a secret at the time of his career. Brown was accused of being violent against Tammi Terrell in the 1960s, who was 17 years old at the time of their relationship. His marriage to Adrienne Lois Rodriguez resulted in claims of domestic violence, arrests, and news headlines, in the 1980s.
During an infamous interview with CNN in 1988, the “Say It Loud” performer denied all allegations, including stories of beating Rodriguez with a metal pipe and shooting at her car.
The complex legacy of Brown is explored in the Deborah Riley-Draper-directed film, James Brown: Say It Loud. Executive produced by Mick Jagger, Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson, Tariq ‘Black Thought’ Trotter, and Shawn Gee, the program premiered on A&E earlier this month.
James Brown: Say It Loud features never-before-seen archival interviews and performances of from Brown, as well as interviews with friends, family, musicians, and proteges including the aforementioned producers Mick Jagger, and Questlove, Bootsy Collins, LL Cool J, The Rev. Al Sharpton, Chuck D, Dallas Austin, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and many more.
Watch a trailer for the docuseries below.
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