June 14, 2023

16-Domestic Violence SURVIVOR: Tina Turner Part 2/2

16-Domestic Violence SURVIVOR: Tina Turner Part 2/2

Can you imagine being trapped in an abusive marriage while the whole world watches, applauding your glamorous life? That's what Tina Turner endured for years, and I'm here to share the powerful conclusion of her story. I explore the dark reality of Tina's life with Ike, including the cruelty, manipulation, and unwavering abuse that she faced daily. Listen as I discuss the harrowing breaking point of her suicide attempt and the aftermath of her fight to protect her family from Ike's vicious torment.

Tina's incredible resilience and strength in the face of immense suffering is a testament to the power of the human spirit. Join me as we celebrate her inspiring journey to reclaim her freedom and true identity. Don't miss this powerful and emotional episode, as we honor Tina Turner's legacy and inspire you to fight for your own freedom and true self.

Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/05/25/tina-turner-death-ike-turner/
https://www.tina-turner.nl/awards.php
https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29036876
https://people.com/tina-turner-kids-were-scarred-different-ways-ike-turner-domestic-abuse-7505743
https://www.today.com/health/news/tina-turner-illness-health-problems-rcna86096 

 The documentary, “Tina” by HBO
“My Love Story” by Tina Turner
“I, Tina” by Tina Turner

1 in 3 is intended for mature audiences. Episodes contain explicit content and may be triggering to some.

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If you are in the United States and need help right now, call the national domestic violence hotline at 800-799-7233 or text the word “start” to 88788.

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Cover art by Laura Swift Dahlke
Music by Tim Crowe

Transcript
Speaker 1:

Hi Warrantiers, welcome back to 1-3. I'm your host, ingrid. Last week I gave you the history of Anime Bullet. We learned of the events in this young girl's life leading up to the abuse from Aik. Today is part 2 and a powerful conclusion of Tina Turner's story. Please note this episode includes details of suicide attempts. To recap where we left off last week, anime was pregnant with Ike's baby. He proposed her name change and the direction of where he wanted their careers to go. He beat and sexually assaulted her. When she voiced her uncertainty of the changes Following the abuse and feeling she had no other safe option, the act became the Ike and Tina Turner review. Despite the name, ike and Tina were not married at that point. As a fool in love hit the airwaves and gained popularity, tina was hospitalized for hepatitis. Ike grew impatient as her hospital course lengthened in duration. He wanted needed to tour and take advantage of the popularity of Ike and Tina Turner. He eventually was able to convince Tina to sneak out of the hospital, even with the medical team recommending more inpatient time. A few days after she left the hospital against medical advice, tina and the review were on the road to begin their tour, she still recovering and still pregnant. Eight months into the pregnancy, tina was still powering through performances, dancing, kicking and jumping off stages. On October 3rd Ike noticed how pregnant she actually was. He canceled shows and took her to Los Angeles to wait for her delivery. On October 27th, ronald was born. Everyone recognized immediately that he looked just like Ike. Lorraine noticed too. That's when she officially left Ike. That's when Ike and Tina suddenly had four boys they needed to care for. Ike had Tina perform just five days after delivery. She was still bleeding and still healing Following that performance. He allowed two weeks for her to recover. After that the schedule was grueling. They would spend months on the road. When they weren't on the road, it was endless days and nights recording and rehearsing. The boys would stay with women Ike had hired, and there were a lot of women Housekeepers, nannies, managers. They were all women And, unfeelingly, each one would eventually fall prey to Ike's advances. Always a businessman, ike learned what was needed to keep the women, especially Tina, under his control. He decided it was time for them to get married. Now. Ike was no stranger to marriage. At one point he reported having married 14 women over the course of his lifetime. He looks at Tina one day and said Do you want to get married? Knowing what would happen if she said no, 22-year-old Tina said yes to her 7-year senior. Two days later, in Tijuana, mexico, in a filthy room down a darkened alley, the pair signed papers confirming their marriage. Then Ike, the romantic that he was, took Tina into a brothel where she was forced to sit next to him as a watched alive sex show. Marriage certainly didn't curb Ike's infidelity. He continued having sex with employees, fans, anyone and everyone. All the while. His abuse continued and actually worsened once he was introduced to cocaine. None of Ike's women were off limits to his abuse either, but Tina always suffered the worst. He began to use whatever was within arm's reach to beat her with. He used wire hangers, shoes, phones and shoe stretchers. He forced her to eat enormous amounts of food. He even stuck a lit cigarette up her nose. There was a routine The beating was followed by rape, followed by forcing Tina to perform on stage like nothing happened. Ike would often say You sing, motherfucker, because you made me do it. Tina suffered broken ribs and even a broken jaw. Her face was constantly bruised and she became quite proficient at applying makeup to cover it up. Sometimes the abuse occurred when the boys were home, huddled under their blankets. Tina's oldest biological son, craig, recalled Ike throwing boiling coffee at Tina. She screamed in pain, clutching her face and neck as the skin peeled away. She suffered third-degree burns from that one. There was no predicting when his rage would strike. Tina remembered the constant fear. Walking on eggshells in anticipation was the worst part. Like many victims of domestic violence, tina became depressed. She couldn't see a way out and saw suicide as her only solution. Her physician prescribed sleeping pills when Tina visited with complaints of insomnia. He warned her they could be dangerous and counseled her on appropriate usage. After returning home, tina put them away for safekeeping. One night in 1968, tina met her limit. At the time there were three aunts living in the house and Ike was having sex with all of them. One of them was even pregnant with his child. Tina knew she had to time this just right, because the review was booked for a performance that night. The pills would not become effective immediately and she wanted to make sure she was able to at least begin the show. You see, tina had been gaslighted and groomed so well that she had a sense of obligation to make sure Ike was paid for the booking, thinking she had plenty of time. She swallowed all 50 pills. After dinner The performers went to the club and were busy getting themselves ready. It wasn't long before someone realized there was something wrong with Tina. She had just taken her eyebrow pencil and drew a line all the way across her face. Tina was rushed to the hospital with a reviews road manager. Driving Meanwhile, ike, was shoving his fingers down Tina's throat in the back seat. Once at the hospital, tina's stomach was pumped. She pulled through, only to wake up with Ike glaring next to her side. Tina recognized what was happening to her was not okay, but she felt stuck. This was her career, her friends, her family, her life. Where was she supposed to go? She felt alone and embarrassed. She did try to run away on three occasions, not having a safe, discreet plan in place. She first left for the only location she could think of, to her mom in St Louis. Ike was able to figure that out easily and intercepted her at a bus station, only to force her back home The next time. She was free for three days when she stayed at her cousin's place. The most successful instance was when she had gone to a mutual friend's house. She was there for two weeks. When she returned home to try and settle matters with Ike, she confronted him and told him she couldn't take the beatings anymore but was willing to try and work out some kind of professional compromise. Tina had been introduced to Buddhism, ironically, by one of the women I had hired. Tina began chanting multiple times each day, nam-yoh-ho-reng-ge-kyo. Each time she chanted, she gained strength. She mentioned eventually seeing her life from a different point of view. As she became more confident, ike started to realize he couldn't control her anymore And Tina noticed that fear. In July 1976, ike and Tina were heading to Dallas for another performance. She was wearing an all-white pantsuit. On their way to the airport, ike pulled melted chocolate out of his pocket and offered some to Tina. She replied with a simple yuck. He backhanded her, but this time, instead of feeling fear, tina was pissed. She glared back at him in defiance. The crew landed in Dallas and got into the car bound for their hotel. When Ike resumed the beating, tina was not taking it. This time With her finger under his nose. Tina told Ike I'm not taking your licks anymore. He continued with the onslaught of slaps and punches, tina returning every blow. When recollecting her thoughts at the time, tina said she was gone. She knew this was the end. As everyone began unloading the vehicles at the hotel, ike blamed their appearance on an accident. Ike was coming off a multiple-day bender, so he passed out quickly and deeply as Tina massaged his back. When they got to their room, making sure he was truly asleep, tina grabbed a toiletry bag and threw sunglasses on and a scarf over her head, avoiding other band members. She slipped out the back of the hotel. She hid in alleyways behind garbage cans, slowly sneaking away. Tina was facing a freeway but knew there was no turning back. Racing across lanes of fast-moving traffic, she was nearly hit, but she made it and ran to the nearest hotel. Tina ran into the Ramada Inn in her bloodied white suit With only a mobile credit card and 36 cents in her pocket. She asked for the manager. She told him I'm Tina Turner. I have had a fight with my husband, as you can see. Will you give me a room? I can't pay you right now, but I promise that I will. The manager immediately put her in a room with a guard outside. He had soup and crackers delivered to her, as her face was too swollen to tolerate anything else. Needing to figure out a long-term escape plan. Tina called their attorney. She couldn't go to her mom or sister because Ike would easily be able to find her. Arrangements were made for her to catch a flight to LA the very next afternoon. She stayed without attorney until Ike found out. After threatening his family, tina left and moved in with another friend. She continued to relocate to the houses of various friends to avoid being found by Ike. As a form of payment and gratitude, tina would clean their homes. Now I was young when I first heard about Tina's story. I'm not sure if things were deliberately portrayed this way, but it appeared to me that this woman suffered abuse, left the situation and immediately reclaimed her life in success. Abuse of relationships can lead the victim lost Their identity, systematically stripped and destroyed. After escaping the abuse, it takes time, therapy, healing, to find that person again. Tina's relationship and career began at a young, impressionable age. Her personal identity had not even been fully developed yet. Ike groomed her and sculpted her persona. She didn't have to reclaim her identity. She had to figure out what it was, wipe the previous slate clean and then move forward. None of that happened immediately. It didn't happen easily, but Tina was a determined woman. She was later quoted as saying I was living a life of death, i didn't exist. I didn't fear him killing me when I left because I was already dead. When I walked out I didn't look back. She realized she could no longer hide from Ike, so she filed for divorce. He didn't make it easy for her. He would stalk her, send his men to shoot out cars and windows. Therefore, boys were sent to live with Tina, because she was the individual who left the group, thereby canceling all the scheduled performances. She was held financially accountable, caring for four boys broke, actually in the hole And literally dodging bullets. Tina couldn't find work anywhere. She wasn't a solo artist, she was Ike and Tina, and Ike's reputation was becoming well known. When the divorce was finalized, he walked away with everything other than two cars and Tina Turner's name. That's all she asked for, because she just wanted it to be over. Following the divorce, tina relied on food stamps and a good friend who fought with her, who laid on the ground of her house with her as bullets were whizzing by. That friend booked her for TV shows, cabaret, performance and anywhere who would pay to have Tina Turner. That life carried on for years. We all know that's not how her story ended, though. Eventually, tina found an amazing agent who saw her for the incredible person and performer she was. She went on to fame and success. She went on to perform for an audience of 186,000 in Rio. Tina forged new paths in musicality, but also in domestic violence. In the 1980s, domestic violence was felt to be something that only occurred in certain socioeconomic subgroups. Her publicized story cracked open the ability for all victims to have a voice. It forced society to recognize domestic violence is everywhere. After the interviews, articles and books I read, along with the documentary I watched in preparation for this episode, it became very clear that Tina did not want to be defined as the woman who was abused by Ike Turner. But this is a domestic violence podcast, and I believe her story is a powerful one, one that inspires, raises awareness and gives strength to those who need it. We can all learn from Tina's struggles, but to honor this incredible woman, i'm going to leave you with some of her accomplishments. Tina Turner received multiple nominations and many awards, most notably Favorite Soul R&B Female Artist. Favorite Soul R&B Female Video Artist and Favorite Pop Rock Female Artist. American Music Awards. In the Billboard Music Awards, she won Comeback of the Year. Artist of the Year. Female Vocalist of the Year, soul R&B Artist of the Year, album of the Year, song of the Year and Singer of the Year. She was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ike and in 2021, she was inducted to the hall as a solo artist. She won World Music Awards for Outstanding Contribution to Music and in 1993, the Legend Award. The NAACP Image Awards gave her Outstanding Female Actress in 1986. The Empty Video Music Awards gave her Best Female Video of the Year, for What's Love Got to Do with It. Best Group Video, for We Are the World, and Best Stage Performance Video, for It's Only Love with Brian Adams. In 2005, she was voted United Kingdom's Woman of the Year. Also in 2005, she was named as one of Oprah Winfrey's 25 legendary black women. In 2007, she was ranked number 19 by BET and the world's top 25 dancers of all time. She also holds several Grammys, including the 2018 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. What I personally feel is Tina's biggest triumph is that she found love Real and true love. At the age of 47, she met and eventually fell in love with Erwin Bach, who was 30 at the time. They married when she was 73. Tina had a stroke in 2013, intestinal cancer in 2017 and a kidney transplant in 2018. She died peacefully in her home in Switzerland on May 24, 2023 at the age of 83. I want to leave you with a quote from Tina, as she was asked what it was like when she left Ike. She said Yeah, i was afraid, but sometimes you've got to let everything go. Purge yourself. I did that. I had nothing, but I had my freedom. My message here is if you are unhappy with anything your mother, your father, your husband, your wife, your job, your boss, your car, whatever is bringing you down get rid of it, because you'll find that when you're free, your true creativity, your true self, comes out. Tina, thank you for your courage, for your humility, for your grace, your tenacity, your grit and your inspiration. Rest well, fellow warrior. In honor of Tina, i added her song's Help and the Best to our one in three podcast playlist on Spotify. You can find the list of sources used for this episode in the show notes. I will be back next week with another story for you. Until then, stay strong and wherever you are in your journey, always remember you are not alone. Find more information, register as a guest or leave a review by going to the website oneinthreepodcastcom. That's the number one. I am the number three podcastcom. Follow one in three on Instagram, facebook and Twitter at one in three podcast. To help me out, please remember to rate, review and subscribe. One in three is a.5 Pinoy production music written and performed by Tim Crow.