On
Tuesday morning, CNN anchor Alina Cho interviewed Lorena Bobbitt - who
unsurprisingly goes by her maiden name, Lorena Gallo - to discuss her
recent efforts to reach out to domestic abuse victims and combat spousal
abuse. However, the network not only failed to explain the specifics of
her 1993 domestic dispute - where she infamously severed her
then-husband John Bobbitt's penis with a kitchen knife - but asked her
if she can now look back and laugh about the attack.
Bobbitt took revenge on her husband after she said he had abused her
multiple times. Years later, in 1997, she was charged with assaulting
her mother. Bobbitt was found not guilty, though the judge in the case
said he thought she was guilty, but had "reasonable doubt."
The network failed to report that domestic-violence case during the
soft interview in a segment titled "Where Are They Now?" Anchor Alina
Cho glossed over her 1993 incident by reporting that Bobbitt "employed a
- shall we say, dramatic - response to an abusive relationship." [MP3
audio
here.]
After
asking Gallo about her recent efforts to counsel abuse victims, Cho
popped this gem to her. "I have to ask you this," Cho began, "
as you
well know, there was a time when joking about the Bobbitts was a
national pastime. I wonder after all these years - are you finally able
to laugh about it?"
That's right, a CNN reporter asked Gallo if she can now laugh about an
incident where she responded to violent abuse by severing her husband's
penis. Amazingly, Gallo answered in the affirmative.
"I finally am. And it took a lot of time, it took a lot of years,"
Gallo responded. "But it's not a subject of laughing matter when we talk
about domestic violence, though," she added.
A partial transcript of the segment, which aired on December 28 at 10:36 a.m. EST, is as follows:
ALINA CHO, national correspondent, CNN: Her name is Lorena Gallo, but
back then on news programs and the subject of late-night comedians, she
was Lorena Bobbitt. She's remembered as the wife who employed a - shall
we say, dramatic - response to an abusive relationship with her then
husband John Wayne-Bobbitt. But in the nearly two decades since then she
started a new life. She's been in a long-term relationship, thirteen
years strong. She has a five year-old daughter. And while she works as a
part-time hairdresser and real estate agent, she says her true passion
is counseling domestic violence victims through her organization.
(...)
CHO: I have to ask you this. As you well know, there was a time when
joking about the Bobbitts was a national pastime. I wonder after all of
these years - are you finally able to laugh about it?
LORENA GALLO: I finally am. And it took a lot of time, it took a lot of
years, and definitely a lot of - I went to psychologists, and thanks to
the doctors, the therapies I'm here, and I'll be able to now basically
start all over again and start a new relationship and have a family and
basically I can laugh now. But it's not a subject of laughing matter
when we talk about domestic violence, though. It's a serious problem and
what happened to me was very bizarre, obviously. But I was a victim,
I'm not a victim anymore, and that's the message that I come - I have to
come across and say it, and domestic violence is a serious issue and it
affects 32 million people in the United States and is a worldwide
epidemic, it's a social epidemic that if we don't do anything about it,
then we faced with a bigger problem in the future for our newest
generations to come.
CHO: Well I know the best advice if you're in that type of situation is
get out, go somewhere, just leave. So Lorena Bobbitt, now Lorena Gallo,
we thank you so much for joining us live today, and best of luck with
Lorena's red wagon.
-Matt Hadro is a MRC intern.
