Celebrity Publicist, Marie Driven Shares Her Domestic Violence Story

Before we close out the month of October [Domestic Violence Awareness Month], we wanted to bring awareness and highlight the empowering story of a woman who has conquered domestic violence firsthand. Marie Driven serves as a celebrity publicist, handling any and everything for her clients. To us, she is a powerhouse, but when we learned of her deep story, we only gained more respect for the strength she’s gained along her own personal journey. In our exclusive interview, Driven opens up to us about her domestic violence story.

Do you mind sharing your domestic violence story with us?

During COVID, my ex put his hands on me. It all started with a negative conversation involving his ex-girlfriend, and he was speaking ill of her because she was having a baby with her new boyfriend. I told him it was not my business, and I didn’t want to hear about this conversation in my presence. He was drinking, of course. Everything got out of hand when he grabbed me and tried to take my phone away. That night was nerve-racking to me; he pinned me down and hit me in my eye. I couldn’t move at that moment. I was taken by surprise.

One might say, why didn’t you call for help? Well, I was scared at the time because he made threats. I had someone living with me at the time, and I didn’t want them in my business. In the morning, he saw my eyes and quickly offered to get me witch hazel to bring down the swelling. I told him to leave instead. He refused to leave. Fast forward, my best friend came to visit me that day to talk about his issues out of the blue. Since he’s into fashion, he wouldn’t notice I was wearing shades. Since my best friend came over, I thought my EX would leave, but no, he stayed.

My best friend wanted a haircut, so he invited his barber to go to my house to cut his hair, and when the Barber arrived, my ex was upset and said he disapproved of it. We all were confused since it was my place. He started to get rude to my guest. I stormed out of the house. He followed me and broke my phone. My best friend grabbed him and took him back inside while jetted out of the house. As I was hiding, waiting for him to leave, I instantly thought about my apple CPU and rushed back to hide it in the hallway behind my steps so he wouldn’t break it.

On my way back, he saw me and grabbed me once again. You can tell he was drinking. He repeatedly said you think your friends care about you. They can’t save you. Then he said, your boyfriend knows why you were wearing glasses. I was already embarrassed. I let my guard down that day. The vibes in the house became weird. My best friend was ready to leave As I walked him out, my ex decided to follow us. My ex gets into it with a guy outside because he kicked the guy’s dog While walking. My best friend’s Uber came. He told me to jump in, and I said no because I didn’t want my EX to go to my house and hurt my dog since he was mad at me. On the way home, my ex asked me why my best friend came Over. I answered because he could, and he said you’re lucky I didn’t knock you out.

After being extremely irritated, I spoke back and told him I didn’t need to tell you my best friend’s business; before I knew it, I was on the ground with a bloody nose and two black eyes. He screams, gets up, wipes your face, hurries up, let’s go. I was hoping someone would see me, and out of nowhere, my little brother popped up and said, leave my sister alone. My Ex was trying to speak to my brother, and he didn’t hear it until 5 mins later, my pregnant sister popped up out of nowhere. My best friend made a call to a close family friend while he was in his uber Saying he was worried about me. That’s how my siblings found out. My sister told him to leave, and he wouldn’t go, and she called the cops. My EX felt threatened and sucker-punched my brother, who was 22 at the time. He grabbed my sister’s phone and broke it and sped off just before The cops arrived. The cops came I filed a police report and called the locksmith to change my locks.

How do you get the motivation to move past the trauma on a daily basis and carry on with your life?

After that day I had to find myself. I contacted my former trainer and asked him to train me at Wingate Park. We trained 5 days a week nonstop. This helped rebuild my confidence and mental strength. Also, watching other people train at the park inspired me to pick up boxing classes. I saw a guy training and went over and asked how much his classes 3 days was later I started training to box. I was so determined that I double train some days. After a couple of classes I was inspired to create boxing gloves and the “I fight back” campaign. The gloves are a testimony for other DV Victims not to give up. I teamed up with my trainer and now we offer boxing classes every Saturday in Brooklyn, NY.

What did this traumatic experience teach you about yourself?

This traumatic experience taught me that what happened to me can happen to anyone.

What advice do you have for people going through domestic violence?

My advice would be don’t let a broken person break you down. Don’t blame yourself for other people’s past. We can never change who they are. This happened way before we met that person. Watch out for the signs and remember DV is also Mental and emotional. If you want to keep on touch, I can be reached at marie@playbookmg.com