Katy Perry teamed up with the US President Barack Obama and a domestic violence survivor Brooke Axtell to push the issue of domestic violence at the Grammys. Just before Perry’s performance, Obama appeared surprisingly on an overhead screen to urge fans to raise their voices against violence against women.
The President expressed that nearly one in five American women suffer rape or attempted rape with more than one in four women experiencing some sort of domestic violence. Obama said this is not okay and it needs to stop.
Following Obama’s speech, Axtell came on the stage and shared her experience with an abusive ex in a moving speech. The speech followed Katy Perry’s performance of By the Grace of God. In a fitted white dress, superstar Perry went on to describing an experience with suicidal thoughts at the final hour of the music industry’s biggest night at a Los Angeles arena.
In a distressing story, Axtell described how a meaningful conversation with a near one saved her life. She told that her ex started abusing her after a year of passionate romance.
Katy Perry invited Brooke Axtell, a domestic violence survivor and activist, to open her performance of “By the Grace of God” at the Grammys. Brooke Axtell took to the stage and told her harrowing story. When he threatened to kill her, she realized that she needed to escape. She revealed the situation to her mother and she encouraged her to approach a local domestic violence shelter. Axtell told, “This conversation saved my life.”
Axtell, in an interview with Salon, said that it was thrilling to get a chance to raise the issue of domestic violence in front of such a large audience. Our collaboration for the Grammys is an intimate way to up bring this devastating trauma and show our support for those in abusive relationships.