Early in the morning last Thursday, around 1:30 am, Michelle Branch apparently learned that her husband Patrick Carney was cheating on her. She tweeted out her news, then she apparently confronted Carney in their home. She slapped him once or twice, and he called the police on her. The Nashville police came to their home, arrested her, booked her for domestic violence and then released her within six hours because she’s still breastfeeding her six-month old daughter. Michelle released a statement following the arrest, asking for “privacy and kindness” as she figures out her “devastating” situation. Well, about 24 hours after she was arrested, she filed for divorce. Good for her.
Michelle Branch has filed for divorce from Patrick Carney, a move that comes just days after cheating allegations and the singer’s domestic assault arrest. Branch filed divorce docs in Tennessee Friday, obtained by TMZ, she states irreconcilable differences as the reason for the split.
Michelle and Carney, who is the drummer of The Black Keys, have two young kids together. She’s asking for child support and for custody … but to allow for Patrick to have time with the kids. Branch is also requesting Patrick pay legal fees.
The estranged couple is also required to complete a parenting court, which the judge orders in all cases out of that specific court.
TMZ broke the story, Michelle and Patrick split last week just hours after she tweeted out accusing him of cheating. At the time, Michelle told us, “To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me and now I must figure out how to move forward. With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”
I’m glad she left jail and immediately sought legal counsel, and decided to file for divorce within 24-36 hours. Good for her. All of the fighting in the comments during the previous post was kind of… not great. You can believe that Branch was wrong to slap her husband and still have sympathy for her. She was home with their six-month-old baby while he was off screwing other women and she apparently JUST found out at that moment and she confronted him. Stop with the MRA/incel talking points in the comments.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- 148241, Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney arrive at Universal Music Group’s 2016 GRAMMY After Party at The Theatre At The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California – Monday February 15, 2016. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews.,Image: 507007536, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 148241, Michelle Branch arrives at Universal Music Group’s 2016 GRAMMY After Party at The Theatre At The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California – Monday February 15, 2016. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews.,Image: 525551398, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- 148241, Michelle Branch and Patrick Carney arrive at Universal Music Group’s 2016 GRAMMY After Party at The Theatre At The Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. Los Angeles, California – Monday February 15, 2016. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office: +1 310.822.0419,Image: 532164765, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS, DIRECT SALES ONLY UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE IN CAPTION – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
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- , Los Angeles, CA – 02/15/16 -Universal Music Group’s 2016 Grammy After Party -PICTURED: Michelle Branch -PHOTO by: Vince Flores/startraksphoto.com -VIF62750 Editorial – Rights Managed Image – Please contact www.startraksphoto.com for licensing fee Startraks Photo New York, NY Image may not be published in any way that is or might be deemed defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification or question you may have. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image, and where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or statutory damages. Featuring: Michelle Branch Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 15 Feb 2016 Credit: Vince Flores/startraksphoto.com
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- , Los Angeles, CA – 02/15/16 -Universal Music Group’s 2016 Grammy After Party -PICTURED: Michelle Branch -PHOTO by: Vince Flores/startraksphoto.com -VIF62756 Editorial – Rights Managed Image – Please contact www.startraksphoto.com for licensing fee Startraks Photo New York, NY Image may not be published in any way that is or might be deemed defamatory, libelous, pornographic, or obscene. Please consult our sales department for any clarification or question you may have. Startraks Photo reserves the right to pursue unauthorized users of this image. If you violate our intellectual property you may be liable for actual damages, loss of income, and profits you derive from the use of this image, and where appropriate, the cost of collection and/or statutory damages. Featuring: Michelle Branch Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 15 Feb 2016 Credit: Vince Flores/startraksphoto.com
Good for her. She’s walking away.
funny how she was arrested for a slap no one saw yet Pitt goes free for far worse. I wonder why that is? /s
Seriously, did this man just scream at the cops, “She abused me!” and they took her away without question? The privilege of being a white dude–always believed and always listened to.
Like Depp and Laundrie. Full sympathy from cops and juries for these abusive men while the women in their lives get murdered or hit with 10 million dollar judgments. Get out now, Michelle, and never look back.
I hope her lawyer is a bulldog and protects her to the fullest extent possible.
I stopped reading the comments on the other post because I don’t agree that violence is never the answer. If all he got was slapped, he got off lightly.
And the constant whataboutisms are stupid to me. You can’t just say “well what if the situation was reversed?” because we live in the world and context matters. Just like you can’t “reverse racism” to prove a point, you cannot just flip roles in this story and say “Ha! See! This just proves my point!”
It doesn’t.
I had to ‘nope!’ out of the comments yesterday too. It was particularly disappointing, I think, because of how forward-thinking and supportive of women the community that frequents this site tends towards being.
I don’t think everyone who commented similar things yesterday was coming from an insincere, unsupportive place. It would be wonderful to be able to draw a line and have standards be the same for everyone. However, we live in a world awash with gray. Context is everything. The statistics on intimate partner violence bear this out in stark detail. A simple inversion of the people involved does not even begin to tell the whole story.
Personally, I find the myriad of gray in this world to be a wonderful thing, as complexity is typically where the most profound lessons can be learned. That’s a bit more philosophical than is probably appropriate in a gossip website’s comment section, though. Lol, I claim birthday rights as a pass.
Good thing he doesn’t play golf, I guess. 😉
For real, good. This is the 1st step and it seems she is gonna listen to her legal team.
It’s just awesome how many thousands of women are hospitalized and killed yearly by intimate partners that they have repeatedly reported to law enforcement and the courts system, not to mention the thousands more who women never even tried to report because they know THEY would be victim blamed, raked over the coals and have every aspect of their life torn apart for public scrutiny. Yet, this scumbag happily calls the cops on his postpartum breastfeeding wife who is half his size and body weight, without worrying about any of those considerations, secure in the knowledge that they will be on his side and he can use them to further torture her. Just awesome.
Male pain gets shit done.
I don’t know MRA/incel talking points. Which were those? I did find it interesting how this incident highlights different women’s very different experiences and realities.
Good for Michelle.
There was a whole lot of “if the roles were reversed, you all would be mad at him,” as if that would have been remotely equivalent. The comments got pretty yikesy.
This.
Okay, thanks. I wasn’t sure what this was referring to specifically. I didn’t enjoy those comments and posted to that effect.
Thank you for saying this Tealily. I found a lot of the reactions to Michelle’s actions nauseating. There is a very clear power dynamic imbalance here and context matters. I’ve lost a friend to domestic violence because her husband is ex-military and the police repeatedly ignored her calls. There’s a real undercurrent of misogyny in our culture.
Good for Michelle. I hope that she and her babies are safe and happy away from that man.
Good for her. She’ll deal with the legal ramifications of the slap, and he’ll deal with everyone knowing (confirming) he’s a POS who not only cheated on his wife while she was pregnant (come on, we all know he did), but decided he would use the courts to bully his wife and punish her for being rightly pissed at him and his agent.
Michelle reacted emotionally in the moment. Hormonal while breastfeeding, total lack of sleep. He cheated on her at her most vulnerable, likely after months of gaslighting and lying. I’m tired of men driving women “crazy” and then complaining about them acting “crazy.”
As pointed out, police excuse men’s abuse ALL OF THE TIME. Yet, a woman is arrested for a slap. I’m not condoning violence, but it seems to me he did this because he wants to use it against her in a custody dispute.
I know we’re nowhere near real gender equity, and we’re still out here marching for our rights but I’m really glad that more women are discovering their power, especially in domestic situations. No, we don’t have to take the bullshit…we don’t have to stay in bad marriages because of the kids…it’s okay to choose you (and in many instances, choose life, literally!)
I’m also glad she didn’t bother trying to protect the affair partner either. No, the mistress wasn’t the one who took marriage vows with this guy, but she is his manager and damn well knew he had a wife and baby. Gross and unprofessional. Actions have consequences.
I hope she drains that piece of sh*t for every penny he’s got.
It’s always the ugly men who cheat on their more beautiful wives.
He is aggressively ugly..
ROTFL. “Aggressively ugly” 🙂
Can you imagine the hormones surging through her postpartum body?! I’m not surprised she slapped him. She made a mistake, but her cheating husband calling the cops on her and having her arrested for a slap?! Ultimate d*ck move.
One thing I always think of when pregnant women are cheated on are how some STIs can cause birth defects and or a baby to be stillborn.
If cheating wasn’t bad enough, these men are literally risking the life of their child to get their D wet or have their egos stroked.
I want to donate to Michelle’s (who I never heard of before yesterday) legal fund.
I’ve been streaming her music a good deal since yesterday as a way of showing support. Her second album still slaps, I must say. “Breathe” is one of my favorite ‘it’s raining outside’ songs, thanks to a particularly nostalgic teenage memory. The lead single from that record, “Are You Happy Now?,” is extremely fitting for this situation too.
I’m not a fan of her music so I’m streaming it on loop with the sound off, fuck that guy.
Yeah like….a slap across the face is anywhere near life threatening. Its not. It’s NOT the same.
In my experience men enjoy gaslighting and emotionally abusing women until the women reach their boiling point and explode. Women are constantly biting their tongues because society tells them to. When we finally snap, we are crazy and the only ones held accountable because society can not handle women’s emotions
If he had slapped her, the police would have asked what she had done to provoke it.
Thank you! Sometimes a slap is exactly what a cheating asshole deserves. Especially coming from a woman who gave birth recently. This was not a case of random or sustained physical and psychological abuse, nor was it life threatening to him. He was the one who added insult to injury by calling the cops. In both instances she was the harmed party, first she was cheated on and humiliated while still nursing his kid and then arrested for the world to see. The comments on that other thread were insane and misogynistic.
I don’t believe in violence, but I seriously cannot believe this ass-ugly, pathetic excuse of a man who cheated on his beautiful wife called the f-ing police on her for slapping his nasty face when she found out. I’d have brained him with a golf club.
She should be given an award for the restraint she’s shown in only slapping him twice. What a worm that he let the cops take her to jail.
What a shock: weeks after Johnny Depp’s bogus lawsuit against the woman he abused, we see people calling Michelle Branch an abuser.
Sorry, no. A woman laying a couple of SLAPS on her cheating husband does not rise to the level of spousal abuse. It is NOT the same as a man hitting a woman. Women are, for the most part, NOT physically comparable to men. This is not to say that wives haven’t abused their spouses; of course they have. But in the vast majority of cases, the only spouse in physical danger is the wife.
You incel men’s rights activists are out of your minds.
Scratch that; you know damned well what you’re doing, and you know it’s gaslighting NONSENSE.
I’m just thinking of that 6 month old baby going 6 plus hours without mom’s milk/nourishment. He knows she’s breastfeeding so his baby had to suffer. I don’t know 6 month old breastfed babies that go more than 6 hours without feeding for Pete’s sake. Maybe she had expressed milk stored for a bottle….but even if she did, she probably needed to pump while she was locked up.
Not only did he cheat, but he chose to press charges against her for a slap. She’s half his size. I’m not encouraging the slap, (although I can certainly understand it) but him choosing to proceed with pressing charges is salt in the wound. I’m a big Black Keys fan & this is painful to hear how scummy he is to his wife & kids.