Jana Kramer gave intimate details about an allegedly abusive relationship she was in when she was younger, where she feared for her life.
While highlighting Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the singer shared a photo from her teen years where she sat on her mom’s lap as the two smiled at the camera.
In the photo, she wore a white tank top with a brown headband while her mom sported a black top and silver chain necklace.
“This is a very hard photo for me to look at. One might look at this and see two smiling faces. A daughter with her mom. But what was under the smile is something that I still to this day have a hard time talking about,” she began in her emotional Instagram post on Saturday, while withholding the name of her alleged abuser.
“I don’t remember the excuses that I told people when I flew home to escape my abuser about the cuts and scrapes on my shoulder and arms, or why my ribs were hurting. But when I look at this photo that’s all I see.”
The 38-year-old went on to claim that saw a “broken girl who was weeks prior pinned to the ground while the man that ‘loved’ me was strangling me saying that he was going kill me,” describing she felt “fully of shame.”
Kramer, who is currently dating Ian Schinelli, described that she would allegedly be choked and hit “because I was bad,” which then lead her to believe that she “deserved abuse.”
“I’m still trying to walk through knowing that wasn’t the last abusive relationship …” she further claimed, adding “I speak out to help others and to hopefully help at least one person who is reading this to talk to someone.”
The “One Tree Hill” alum then urged her followers and anyone who was reading her post and potentially identified with being abused to not “wait until you lose your breath, your life, your heart, your soul.”
“I am linking in my bio a place to find help. @safehorizon and so many places are there for you. Please talk to someone,” she concluded in her lengthy message.
Following her post, many took to the comment section to offer support and praise her for her work with domestic violence survivors.
Author Gabrielle Bernstein wrote, “God bless you sister,” while actress Shantel VanSanten shared, “Im [sic] so proud of you for sharing. You are one of the strongest humans I know and your capacity to help others with your stories is inspiring.”
This isn’t the first time Kramer has opened up about her alleged abuse, previously saying in another Instagram post that she “allowed certain behaviors to continue on because I actually believed the negative voices in my head that were spoken to me.”
The singer went on to describe those “certain behaviors,” where the person would tell her “I barely pushed you, don’t be so dramatic…you bruise easily , I hardly touched you, you’re crazy.”
Kramer’s message came after she finalized her divorce from ex-husband Mike Caussin, with whom she shares two children, after she accused him of adultery in their marriage.
Sources told Page Six at the time that Kramer filed because the NFL player had cheated on her again.
The singer was first married to Michael Gambino, who was convicted of attempted murder after he strangled Kramer into unconsciousness. He was released in 2010 and died by suicide two years later.
She then married “That Thing You Do” star Johnathon Schaech in 2010 but split after 12 days and finalized their divorce in 2011.