Michelle Branch has revealed she and husband Patrick Carney are in therapy to “deal with our s***” following a separation in August.
The “Goodbye To You” singer, 39, openly admitted to slapping Carney, 42, after claiming on social media that he cheated on her while she was “at home with our six-month-old baby”.
She was arrested on domestic assault charges in relation to the slap, which were subsequently dismissed.
The couple began divorce proceedings in the days after Branch was arrested, but have since suspended them for six months to “effect reconciliation”.
In a new interview with The Cut, Branch opened up about the current state of her marriage.
She said: “This doesn’t happen in solid marriages, does it? Maybe this had to happen in order for us to actually deal with our s*** that we’ve been sweeping under the rug and be stronger.
“That’s both of our hope. I love him. I have two beautiful babies with him. It sucks that it took this for us to actually do the work.”
Branch added that she was “not happy about a lot of the ways that s*** went down that night”, but she was “happy that… I can now be laughing about it”.
“It wasn’t ideal, but here we are,” she said.
In a statement on 12 August announcing her separation from Carney after three years of marriage, Branch said: “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.”
On the same night, she was arrested on domestic assault charges for allegedly slapping Carney “one or two times” in the face, according to Nashville court documents.
The charges were later dismissed by authorities.
Asked what she learned from the incident, Branch told the publication: “Violence is never the answer. I know that. So for the people online who are saying I’m abusive, I’m not.
“Don’t slap somebody, even if you find out that they were cheating on you.”
In another interview earlier this week on Tamron Hall, the singer said she wished she and Carney had started therapy earlier.
“It’s made such a huge difference in such a short amount of time. It’s helped us immensely,” she said.
Branch and Carney were married in 2019 and have two children together, four-year-old son Rhys and eight-month-old daughter Willie. She also has a 17-year-old child , Owen Isabelle Landau, from her previous marriage to Teddy Landau.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247, or visit their website here.
