James Brown's daughters gave him 'mercy' after he abused their mother
James Browns daughters Dr. Deanna Brown Thomas And Dr. Yamma Brown opened up about giving 'grace' to their father after seeing him abuse their mother, Diedre Jenkins.
“I feel like it's part of who he is. It is part of our lives,” Yamma, 55, said Hollywood life in an interview on Tuesday, February 20. “There's no point in pretending something doesn't exist, because there are more blessings [with] you go through it and come out a different person. I always say have mercy on that person and what they have been through in life and understand that we are all given mercy, we all make mistakes, have made mistakes and will continue to make mistakes.
Yamma added that because she doesn't “shun” the “hurt” and “hurt” her father caused, it is important to “take into account” the singer's entire life when looking back on his legacy.
“We're not all going to be able to be that iconic when it comes to music and be a genius in that regard and have all these other kinds of pressures on us,” she explained. “Realize that there was hurt and pain in his life, from the way he grew up to really charting his path and overcoming it.”
Both daughters openly discuss James' abuse in A&E's four-part docuseries. James Brown: Say it loud, which aired on Monday, February 19, and follows the trajectory of the musician's life and career. In part one of the series, Yamma reveals that she was six years old when she last saw her father hitting her mother when she jumped up to stop him.
“I talk about it in the sense that it happened. It's an unfortunate time in everyone's situation, everyone's life,” she says in the docuseries. “If they have ever experienced domestic violence, they know what it is like. And it shows that he was human because he had flaws, but it's also a time to show mercy.
While their father's romances were undoubtedly tumultuous, the women have made it clear that he never turned his anger on them.
“He never had any anger towards us because we were his children,” Deanna, 55, said. People in an interview on Tuesday. “That was a situation between husband and wife. There are different kinds of love, different kinds of circumstances.”
However, she sometimes resented her father for what she saw him do to their mother. “I didn't like him because of this kind of behavior,” she continued. “I saw a lot growing up. Growing up, I heard a lot that could have damaged me for life.”
Jenkins was James' second wife after his first marriage to Velma Warrenwith whom he shared sons Teddy Brown, Terry Brown And Larry Brown. The couple was married for eleven years before filing for divorce in 1981. James married a third wife Adrienne Rodriguez in 1984 and they remained together until her death in 1996. He moved on Tomi Rae Hynie in 1997 and the couple welcomed a son James Joseph Brown II in 2001. (James is also the father of Daryl Brown And Lisa Brown from other relationships.)
Jenkins was the only woman to experience abuse from James. He was arrested several times for allegedly assaulting Rodriguez before being arrested in 2004 for alleged domestic violence against Hynie. (James pleaded no contest in court and was ultimately fined $1,000.)
Kris Jenner, Keke Wyatt and more famous parents are in the minority at home. Wyatt welcomed her 11th baby, son Ke'zyah, in September 2022, her second with husband Zackariah Darring. The singer and Darring also share son Ke'Riah. Wyatt also shares six older children with ex-husband Rahman Morton and three more with ex-husband Michael […]
Despite his turbulent marriage to Jenkins, Yamma said People that her father was able to make amends with their mother before his death. (James died in 2006 of congestive heart failure at age 76.)
“My father apologized to my mother,” she told the outlet. “Not to say that that was something that erased everything, but also because I knew that he had compassion in his heart and that my mother was open to that.”
Part 2 of James Brown: Say it loud airs on A&E Tuesday, February 20 at 8pm ET.