Episode Transcript
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In after years of alleged physical
and sexual abuse Lorena Bobbit cut off
her husband John’s penis with a knife
while he was sleeping in bed the case
made international news and tabloid
headlines a story so scandalous it
became the inspiration for many SNL
skits and late-night monologues after
making it through the trial and the
ensuing media circus Lorena was found
not guilty due to temporary insanity
today Lorena is a staunch advocate for
survivors of domestic violence and
served as an executive producer and a
narrator for the soon-to-be-released
lifetime film I was Lorena Bobbit
[Music]
this is episode 17 the Lorena Bobbitt
Gallo interview.
Hi Megan
Hi Amy how are you today I’m
wonderful how are you I’m good as can be
which is great I’m excited because today
we have a special show for our listeners
recently we were contacted with an
opportunity to interview Lorena Bobbit Gallo
You know who Lorena Bobbit is don’t you
Megan I certainly do and I share your
enthusiasm today is not our typical
story format but we really felt like the
themes touched on in this case fits so
well with what we’re trying to do with
women in crime showing crime through the
gender lens and showing victims and
offenders that we just really couldn’t
pass up this opportunity today we have
three interviews to share with you the
first two are with the lead actors Luke
Humphrey and Dany Montalvo from the new
lifetime film I was Lorena Bobbitt which
was actually produced by Lorena and then
we will also get to hear from Lorena
herself for those of us old enough to
remember such as me and you Megan this
was an unforgettable case for some of
our younger audience members we wanted
to give you a brief overview before we
get to the interviews Lorena was born in
Ecuador in and she grew up in
Venezuela and had two younger siblings
at the age of she obtained a student
visa and moved to Virginia to attend
Community College to earn money she
worked as a nanny and she also took a
later position at a nail salon shortly
after moving to Virginia she met John
Bobbitt then a u.s. marine at a club for
enlisted men and they began dating
shortly after the pair were married on
June th when Lorena was and
John was according to Lorena John
became violent just a few weeks after
the wedding and the violence continued
from that point on and Lorena did call
the police on multiple occasions and in
February John pled guilty to
assault and battery though the charges
were later dismissed after he went
through counseling Lorena’s testimony
was that in the early hours of June rd
John came home drunk and raped her
after the attack while John was passed
out in their bed Lorena went to get a
cup of water and she spotted a knife
she went to the kitchen she picked up
the knife and she returned to the
bedroom and she cut John’s penis off
still holding the knife and the severed
organ lorina then drove away from their
apartment building and tossed the penis
out of the moving vehicle into a field
before driving to a friend’s house
lorena did contact the police and she
told them where she had thrown the penis
the police located it and a reattachment
surgery was a success
meanwhile Lorena had a rape kit
examination in the very same hospital
that John was being treated in well
that’s where the trial comes in and in
this case there were two trials in
November John went on trial for
marital sexual assault though Lorena had
actually accused him of rape at the time
Virginia law required couples to be
living separately or for serious
physical injuries to occur for a charge
of marital rape Amy and I could probably
spend an episode on our feelings about
the earlier definitions of that but for
now we’ll just say that the jury found
John not guilty and then in January
Lorena’s trial began I also want to say
she did not accept a plea although she
was offered a nice plea because she
really wanted her day in court and she
wanted to tell her story she ended up
being charged with malicious wounding in
this put her at risk for up to years
behind bars and facing possible
deportation from the United States
now during Lorena’s trial John testified
that he had never committed any act of
violence against her however other
witnesses and police reports
corroborated that Lorena had appeared
with bruises as they did that John had
been seen hitting and shoving his wife
on January st Lorena was found
not guilty due to temporary insanity
meaning that she would not have to spend
time in prison for wounding John however
following the acquittal she was sent to
a hospital for a -day psych evaluation
and this was required by Virginia’s
state law after that she was released
Lorena has since become a firm advocate
for domestic violence with the Lorena
gallo foundation founded in Lorena
created an organization to help victims
of domestic violence and their children
and to raise awareness of the issue in
this case I think we could probably go
on it
and talking about it and we really just
glossed over it because we do want to
get to the interviews because always
being able to hear first hand from
someone is always you know more valuable
than us speculating before we speak to
lorina we had a conversation with Luke
Humphrey who played john bobbitt and
Dany Montalvo who played Lorena Bobbitt
and their insight was particularly
relevant to the issues in this film of
domestic violence and the fact that this
is not a black and white issue and how
this looks on both sides of victim and
victimizer so some of their insights
were really helpful in understanding
this case a little bit deeper I also
think it’s interesting to hear from
actors who have to portray both victims
and offenders and how they feel about
that and how that plays into the
public’s perception of those who are
both victimized and those who victimize
people so without further ado we’ll get
into our conversation with Luke and then
Danny
[Music]
hi Luke hey how are you nice to meet you
nice to meet you I am so excited to be
on I just started listening to your show
and I’m absolutely hooked so big fans so
very excited to be chatting with you
thank you oh thank you wow I appreciate
it so starting here you’re playing the
role of john bobbitt and john bobbitt is
portrayed as a violent and abusive
victimizer of his wife in this movie how
do you prepare to play this type of role
well this is interesting I mean like
normally I’m playing fictional
characters so this where especially
where this is a story that was so much
part of like the cultural conversation
there’s so much to draw upon but what I
found interesting as far as doing
research was the script that we had the
story we were telling was the story that
happened before the cameras showed up
before so when John is presenting
himself you know when all the footage I
was able to look at he’s presenting
himself he’s wearing a mask right he’s
showing the world a part of himself that
he wants to be seen as so the job for me
was to go okay like taking the script
taking a story that we had going to the
court documents you know reading through
the transcripts and gathering all
information and trying to draw a picture
of someone and try to you know find the
man behind the mask and that for me was
the most challenging thing and you know
because you go through when there’s you
know we had it I had a moment talking
with Lorena and she wanted to let me
know that at the beginning there was
love you know and that’s something for
me playing an abuser like that it’s
important to honor the victim you know
and if I play someone who’s
two-dimensional if I make it someone
who’s you know snidely whiplash twirling
the moustache evil it discredits the
people who have been taken advantage by
people like that and so in the beginning
when there’s a blossoming of a romance
that you can understand why he’s someone
who someone could fall in love with you
understand how these how would the abuse
escalates and how he traps her by
undermining different aspects of her you
know her her intelligence her abilities
you know he creates a world where she is
dependent upon him and then you know
things escalate so finding that
mentality and finding the the
incremental steps towards where it went
to that was a lot of the challenge I
mean I find acting is a wonderful tool I
mean outside of just like performance
and entertainment it’s it’s a way of
stepping into somebody’s shoes you know
and especially when you’re looking at
situations when you have crime or
something heinous with high stakes it’s
so easy to jump to you know painting
them in you know black and white and I
find the actor’s job is to step into
that and understand their world view I
mean very few people are walking around
making decisions that go inside a
horrible person I will do this horrible
thing people have emotional connections
and emotional impulses and into the
intellectually justify themselves to
themselves so you have to find out what
that worldview is and what like so
frequently and this in the script in
this story I had to go through and be
this is the scene that the audience is
watching but this isn’t the scene that I
made this may look like a man who’s
raging out of control and abusing a
spouse but for me I’m just you know for
John in that moment it was correcting
somebody it was I didn’t want to go this
far and it pushed me there it was I had
to completely take myself out and see a
whole other way into a scene great
insight and I even heard some
criminologist statements in there too so
thanks I appreciated that so when
considering a role like this did you
think about the fact that John is the
you know he is the bad guy even if it’s
not black and white and that you know
that would be very alienating to female
Watchers or females in general yeah I
mean just be really honest with you
right now
I’m very apprehensive for this to come
out I wouldn’t be surprised if I receive
some unpleasant feedback from from
audience members but honestly like I
take a look at the world right now and I
look at myself in it and I have the
opportunity
to tell stories and particularly to
embody roles like this because I think
exploring these kinds of people and the
effect they have on society is really
important and if that’s my cross to bear
in this situation and I think it’s
important enough to kind of push myself
through that to get these stories told
in a way that I think is important did
the women in your life have any opinion
I wonder about you taking on this role
yeah I mean I’m married and I’m you know
very happy relationship my my wife and I
are you know very much in love and kind
of Lee and I’m I’m not I’m so far from
the person I portray it’s it’s a
challenging role to step into so I mean
I was shooting in Canada my wife was in
Los Angeles and you know one of the
challenges of that is coming back you
know you’re in your own set hours a
day and frequently you’re in this world
you create you know you’re shooting
violent scene after violent scene and
it’s going from emotional abuse to
physical abuse to sexual abuse all in a
day’s span and just living in this world
and then I remember one day coming home
and just feeling like a monster and like
having my wife to talk me back to remind
me that you know when I touch someone
it’s not damaging when I when I you know
use my voice on someone it’s not to
belittle or undermine just act to room
to bring me back and remind me of myself
and remind me that you know I’m not who
I was betraying because it’s
psychologically challenging to live in
that space for you know your filming day
after day after day for our you know
it’s it’s it’s hard it’s important to
pull yourself out certainly I’ve read
about a lot of actors and actresses who
assume that role and they stay in it the
whole time so I think I understand what
you’re referring to even if I haven’t
experienced it yeah well I hadn’t each
card director was phenomenon and you
know if he created an amazing crew with
people that was predominantly a female
department heads and so there was a lot
of incredible women on set and when I
talked her before I stepped into the
role was was cut before I got the part
was you know I don’t want to do this
unless we’re creating a space where this
work can be held with respect because
I’m not going I’m not turning into this
guy and taking this home with me because
that’s gonna damage me and people around
me I need to create a space where I can
do this work do the work leave it at the
door and go home and feel like myself
again
and she really created that space you
know the intimacy coordinator stunt
coordinators the whole team came
together and respected the fact that
this was a true story or telling what we
were portraying actually happened to
this woman and if we don’t respect that
with reverence then we’re doing a
disservice to the reality of what this
is for so many women in society did you
take some cuz you said you’re
apprehensive about this coming out and I
kind of expected that did you take some
time to really think about whether you
wanted to play this role yeah yeah I
mean I come from the theater so I am
used to playing like young romantic
leaves and all these kinds of things but
as an artist as an actor these are the
kinds of rules that I want to explore so
this is what I want to engage with in
society as a storyteller I don’t know
how this is gonna turn out I don’t know
how this is gonna affect people who
watch this but I believe how it was
handled and what we’re handling is
important enough that has made this as
may have been a challenge and scary for
me to step into this it’s gonna be worth
it for the people that it can you know
provide to share a story with who commit
and who can reconcile recognize
themselves in it and hopefully you know
reach out and seek help and get out of
dangerous situations you know when
you’re filming it’s it’s
all-encompassing you’re working very
long hours you’re working variant it’s
very intense on set you know and
thankfully the the crew and Danny who
played Lorena was fantastic a lot of
great rapport with her and a lot of
trust was there which was so important
but I had this moment when I when I met
Lorena for the first time we had been
filming for a little while and I didn’t
know I was gonna be meeting her when I
when I was and we had just finished
filming about half a week of some some
of the most violent acts that take place
in the film and then I go in and I meet
her we greet each other and I gave her a
hug and
I felt her and she’s not a big woman you
know she’s she’s a small delicate woman
and I’m not a huge dude but you know I
was about the same sizes I’m the same
size as John was and holding her in my
arms like that it just I got I was hit
by that use of force against that woman
and what she thought it just struck me
that she physically went through those
wars and lived through this story and
not just in little segments that we get
to pick in and jump in and out of any
scenes but that was her day-to-day life
that was a real fear that she lived with
and to hold her in my arms like that he
just it just struck me if this story can
get out and you know affect one person
to reach out and call for help then this
this whole thing is worth it that’s
great and I’m sure it well to be honest
did you know much just out of curiosity
Luke about the Bobbitt case prior to
starring in this film uh yeah I mean
this was a story that we used to sing
about on the playground I mean this was
kind of you know like the cultural joke
of it had you know I remember like
everybody’s parents were listening to it
on the radio that we were going to
school and stuff like that so this is
this was a very culturally rich story
that we had all interpreted through the
lens at the time right which was this
big punch line this big crazy woman cut
off a man’s penis like everybody was
laughing and kind of titillated and had
these weird nervous feelings about it
and you know even to this day when I
tell people I have this role all I get
are dick jokes you know and it’s so in
and that excites me because it shows me
that the cultural lens needs to shift
and that story was viewed through such a
specific interpretation of events and
I’m really hoping that the time between
then and now has allowed us to shift our
understanding towards compassion and
towards the reality of what led to that
event so it’s not a punchline did John
did you make any efforts to reach out to
John or John to you during this process
I watched a lot of tape I
you know I watched everything I could
find I read everything I could find I
mean he’s a very challenged broken man
and I think there’s some really
important things that happened to him
that shaped him that are not being
discussed not to justify him but just to
understand where he was coming from and
then for me again it was I wanted I was
more interested you know how she saw
John at how the world saw John right
well I wanted to show people how Lorena
would see this man who was charming who
had moments of flirtation and moments of
love I had in the early on it I’ve had
moments of optimism and and potential
you know and then you watch that pervert
you watch that disintegrate and you know
turn into what we came but look you
brought up a good point something we
talked about in our classes all the time
even is the fact that even if we’re
explaining someone’s behavior trying to
look at the causes of it we’re not
excusing it when I teach theories of
crime we don’t say oh because we figured
out why someone did it that it’s totally
okay so we’re not it’s not you know
there’s a line between excusing and
trying to at least examine the root
causes of someone’s behavior and I also
think there are background factors in
John’s life that do help explain in his
behavior more so and don’t excuse it
yeah yeah absolutely I think that’s a
really important line to draw but also
it’s in a really important place to go I
can’t just go I’m angry I’m gonna smash
you know the wall there’s there is
pattern behavior there is impulses that
are there’s a worldview that’s ingrained
in that person and you know that affects
how they respond to stimulus how they
respond to circumstance and you have to
explore that you have to dive into that
if you want to serve the story or
understand the motive for anybody and I
think acting does a is a great tool for
it for exploring those things I think so
what do you think john bobbitt we’ll
think about your performance or your
portrayal
I you know III don’t care I mean he
could like me he can hate me it’s it’s
not about him it’s it’s about her story
serving that and it’s for finding the
audience’s who need this story and who
this can be important to also for the
people who aren’t in that situation but
if it can help them add to the
conversation they have about domestic
violence that can help them recognize
and question the way they’ve been told
stories you know and who is telling them
and what they’re the people who are
telling them certain stories but their
understanding of the world is if that
could open that up a little bit that
would be that’s fantastic John gets
angry John gets angry that’s fine
well making waves is sometimes a good
thing too can you share with us any of
your next projects yeah production
company so we make stuff together there
and we’ve been really you know exploring
different projects coming up for when
this you know we’re allowed to get back
to work and also been exploring making
stuff in this in this time and the
quarantine time and working on how to be
creative in these restrictions also I
have a project coming out on Netflix I
don’t know when I mean a series called
tiny pretty things which comes out
sometime this year well that’s exciting
and everyone’s on Netflix these days so
that was a good time for staying home
and watching TV so Wow okay well
congratulations on that just a final
question I was just curious about do you
have a dream role that you’d like to
play not right now you know I go back
and forth there’s a couple stories that
I’m very interested in just historically
and kind of contemporary settings that
I’d like to explore both as a
storyteller and as an actor but again
like what this role is is an example of
what I want to be doing you know I I’m a
straight white man in this day and age
and there’s a lot of important things we
need to explore about people who walk
around in
body and what they’ve done in society
and how society has allowed or fostered
certain behavioral problems that were
reckoning with and if the one thing I
would love to do more than anything is
to embody problematic men in story so
this is exactly that kind of role and if
I could do this for the next ever I
think that would be not only satisfying
but important I think it’s great and we
watched it and it’s so funny to watch it
I haven’t seen it
we got a pre-screening so that we would
have these you know a bail – awesome
thank you so much so I mean I I love it
you’re so different you’re right you
know your character you’re you’re an
entirely different person but I feel
like you know most people are gonna
recognize that you’re just playing the
role and most people are gonna see that
this is clearly from Lorena’s point of
view and I like that she narrated to
that she was in there I thought that was
great you know honestly I have the the
early screener thing I’ve just been too
nervous to watch it really oh you’re
waiting for it you live in a story for
so long it’s like so like how you do it
like and then to kind of take a step
back I just I think I just need a bit
more time I’ll watch it on like I’ll
watch with everybody else on that I was
gonna say well you gotta have to watch
it in the couple days from now but
that’ll be fun I’m glad you can
celebrate with your wife and your
friends and that’s great um we’ve
already watched and pulled the band-aid
but no it was great thank you so much
like really appreciate it yeah you’re
gonna hear yourself on there soon too
it’s a it’s been nice to have something
both like stimulating politically like I
mean like socially relevant but also not
the news I’m done with the news I can’t
do the news anymore it was just making
me crazy though so I was like you know
we’re just gonna stop that now alright
well thank you so so much again for your
time congratulations good luck on Monday
I hope you enjoy the moment your success
and have fun with it for our listeners
you can check him out on I was Lorena
Bobbitt which premieres on Monday May
th on lifetime
Danny you’re playing Lorena Bobbit in
the new lifetime film I was Lorena
Bobbit and Lorena is portrayed as a
woman who is severely victimized at the
hand of her husband in this movie so how
do you prepare to play this type of role
I definitely started off with watching
what was available to me and that was
the Amazon documentary all of the
footage and media coverage from the
media from back in the day and I used
the the trial that was televised and
then of course I had Lorena herself who
was able to talk to me and walk me
through anything I needed and then the
accent that was one of the most
difficult things to prepare just because
I didn’t want it to interfere with the
performance in any way so I made sure to
try and work on that as much as I can so
that I can kind of just throw it out the
window when it came time to perform yeah
there were a lot of challenges going
through all the different scenes and a
majority of them I spent either crying
or being abused or you know being
physically abused so it was a very big
challenge and learning experience so
would you say because that’s one of the
questions I have is what was you know
the biggest the biggest challenge would
you say it was the intense emotional
state that you were in or what was it
for you
yeah one scene that specifically
Constance comes to mind is where it
starts off physically violent and then
it goes into being sexually violent and
that we did that we did several takes of
that just to get him from different
angles and by the time we were done I
felt such pure rage you know just
because I felt the anger I felt so much
anger for what he did to Lorena you know
I felt so much anger at john bobbitt and
i went back to my trailer and I just
remember wanting to punch something and
just remember to let all these emotions
flow through me not to try and squish
them down or repress them just let it
all come out and then get ready for work
but I said you know we had the
components of it being choreographed so
we had to remember you know
needs to be technique in there we safety
is always number one and then once we
were able to work on that and have that
down pat that’s when we can bring the
emotions to it all the performance
pieces and that’s where it got heavy you
know because you even though the
director yells cut you want to stay in
the scene so that you can go right back
into it and that’s what I personally
chose to do so just so that I wouldn’t
have to get in and out of this headspace
you know but Luke made it very easy for
me to feel safe to feel in a safe
environment so that I can go all out
that’s wonderful and obviously the exact
opposite of what Lorena went through in
real life that’s so so I asked Luke
about this yesterday when considering
this role did he worry about the
perceptions of john bobbitt as you know
being a villainous guy so I wonder did
you worry at all about the opposite
perception that Lorena was perceived as
a villain to some men at the time did
this ever enter your mind oh yeah
definitely I definitely saw you know
that split between women and men all
majority of women were supporting for
her and rooting for her and saying
that’s exactly what I would have done
and then for the men who was worst
nightmare come true
so I did recognize that split and I did
see how Lorena was made to be this
villain to men but at no point did I
ever feel like apprehensive to take on
the role because of that as a matter of
fact I felt like it was an obligation to
the women who supported her and who
rooted for her to show that you know she
does have a voice and she’s gonna use it
did you know much about the Lorena
Bobbitt and john bobbitt case or trial
before tackling this role I had
absolutely no idea who Lorena was who
John was I hadn’t heard any of the jokes
which is amazing because they were
everywhere I didn’t hear your about the
incident itself I had never heard of a
woman cutting off her husband’s penis
I was living in her Iraq clearly so when
I did get the audition I googled her
name and then everything just came
flooding in and I was like wow this is a
story that just rocked the headlines
back in the day because I was born
five days after it happened so you know
growing up it had already it already
left the headlines almost you know but
still I had never heard of Lorena
Bobbitt so – now you know years later
that’s how old I am for her to tell her
story and for me to be a part of that
it’s so surreal wow you must have been
really overwhelmed with all the research
and all the footage if you know didn’t
know a thing about it then this is
really a truly huge engrossing case oh
absolutely I yeah I watched hours and
hours of it I just remember yelling at
my TV you know yelling at john bobbitt
just it was such a a lot of emotions
going through that while I was watching
all of that because it was on you I know
you talked a little bit about spending
time with Lorena to play to play Lorena
how involved was she in shaping your
portrayal of her so she she was on set
for a couple of days she wasn’t there
for the more you know tougher more
graphic scenes but the David she was
there we were able to talk one-on-one
about some of the most difficult parts
on the reality that she had to go
through but then I personally made the
choice to not want to dive into the
details of her life just because I I
didn’t want her to relive that you know
she’s already kind of reliving it she’s
already gonna watch it I told her and
you have absolutely any notes you know
you have anything that you want me to
change want me to do you’re always
watching you tell me so I knew that
there was that open communication and I
also knew that the whole emotional abuse
of the trauma was the toughest part for
her and that really helped with my
performance because I knew it wasn’t so
much about all the physical stuff and
how you know she was bruised and hurting
was more all all internal Danny do you
think that this movie will resonate with
people now given the climate of the me
movement I sure
expect it to and I hope it does because
we are in a different climate right now
back when learning a story was first
heard it was a joke you know no one took
it seriously no one really knew what was
going on so for today for people to hear
her story with
different eyes through a different lens
in a different mindset I think it’s
gonna you know inspire people in the way
we hope you do you think we’ve made
progress in the way we deal with these
kind of issues of domestic violence with
women I think there has been progress
made but to look back you know years
ago and it’s still kind of like women
are still going through the same thing
women are stealing Lorena’s shoes today
so it’s almost like you feel like there
wasn’t progress made but I think there
was you know like the the Violence
Against Women Act you know that came
into effect after what happened to
Lorena but I think now that right
especially with the me to era people are
starting to realize that women have this
horrible thing in common and we’re all
coming together and we’re coming you’re
becoming stronger and people are
starting to listen and I think that’s
the whole point of this on an individual
level Danni has the experience of
playing Lorena change any of your
previously held view views about
domestic violence definitely I mean I
you know I had done my research on it
and I wanted it to stop being just
definitions and statistics and you know
numbers I wanted it to mean something
and I realized that it happens to so
many women you know it’s senior – your
sister – your wife your daughter your
aunt you know they’re all around us and
something that I was educated on you
know they always asked why I didn’t
learn Aleve why don’t women leave when
they’re in these abusive relationships
and I realize it’s because when they do
try to leave that’s the moment where
they’re in the most amount of danger and
it’s so easy for people to say just
leave just walk out so to know that and
to be able to now educate other people
as to why it’s so difficult for victims
to not leave that trauma I think I think
for people to know that I think that’s
definitely gonna change the story on
earth can you also tell us maybe about
the rewards or the most rewarding part
to you after you finished of playing
Lorena Bobbit I felt I felt incredibly
empowered to go to do all these scenes
and then to come out of it and realize
hey I wasn’t in any danger I was I was
safe the entire time but then to realize
this is a truce
taury that this happens to women every
day and men that it almost humbled me it
almost you know something clicked in me
where it was like this isn’t just this
isn’t just acting this isn’t just a
movie this is a story this is somebody’s
reality that that needs to be shared
with other people to wake them up and
and to re-educate the world about what’s
going on especially now with the
pandemic no not everyone is safe at home
so I think this is a really important
movie for everyone to watch there are a
lot more people inside so you’re gonna
see a lot of increases in domestic
violence so you know getting an idea now
of how you can access help or resources
or even just some insight you’re
probably right during this time is very
relevant yeah absolutely
was it hard for you to or was it easy
for you to close the book on this and
move on or when you kind of finish did
you still feel like you were in the
character of Lorena
I it was easy for me to close the book
and move on just because I knew as soon
as you know I signed on to the project I
started mentally and emotionally
preparing myself to be able to go in and
out of these you know dark places I made
sure that when I went to my trailer I
had a little almost a little ritual to
get myself out of that that’s that space
you know out of that place to make sure
to not take it back home with me or back
to the hotel room you know we did the
last scene I felt this weight off my
shoulders I felt like I had committed as
best as I could and I gave everything I
could and I was really really happy and
proud of all my work I just felt like I
could breathe again you know and and go
home and not have to worry about these
dark feelings and emotions I bet that
was a relief in my line of work I
understand exactly what you’re talking
about
I’m sure so let me ask you now that you
have wrapped what is your next project
if you can share with us well as soon as
I finished wrapping everything shut down
so we literally finished like the day
before I got home and then my work shut
down everything so I haven’t been
auditioning nothing has really been in
the works right now as soon as things
start to open that’s when I plan on you
know hitting four and
you know running but currently in order
to stay busy I’m doing music I’m a
musician so I play guitar piano man
ukulele and I sing and I write my own
music so I’m trying to create that kind
of content and see creative I feel like
that’s too many talents for one person
it’s a little unfair I know sometimes
I’m just listing things just so you know
thank you so much Danny so for everyone
who’s listening again this was Danny
Montalvo and you can catch her on
lifetime on Monday May th in the
premiere of I was Lorena Bobbitt thank
you so much Danny thank you so much
Megan
[Music]
aimée though it’s not our normal thing
to interview actors and actresses I
really liked hearing from Danny and Luke
I thought they had some great insights
as to how they were approaching this and
the transformation that they had to make
but also about their opinions of the
issue of domestic violence the changes
that have happened in this country since
Lorena’s case and the fact that they
wanted to take on difficult roles like
this that they knew were polarizing
because this case was a polarizing case
and so they both felt like they were
going to you know they both felt like
they had a real important task and a
challenge and they both knew that there
were gonna be risks to doing so but I
think ultimately the fact that from both
of them I just heard this issue was just
too important to ignore so I appreciate
that and I think them both yes now let’s
get to Lorena although it’s been more
than years Lorena is still very much
an advocate for survivors of domestic
abuse and as we’ll hear she has done
quite a bit of work in this area and
without further ado here is our
interview with Lorena gallo
[Music]
hi Lorena are you there yes yes I’m here
hi hi Lorena how are you good thank you
how are you thank you so much for having
me thank you so much for being with us
today Amy and I are actually
criminologists and professors who teach
and study about the criminal justice
system and all aspects of crime and we
created this podcast women in crime
because we wanted to look at the stories
of women who have been victims who have
been offenders who have been both but we
wanted to investigate it more through
the gender lens and how you know being a
female shapes the experience much
differently than males so I think that
our listeners are going to be very
excited about your story Lorena so thank
you thank you you founded the Lorena
gallo foundation in can you tell
our listeners a little bit about the
foundation and your primary goal in this
organization absolutely my purpose of my
organization is to raise awareness and
prevention of domestic violence and
sexual assault through education at a
Scholastic levels and community
engagement my main goal is to open an
emergency shelter in the future and
provide immediate assistance such as
housing food clothing and a safe
environment for people looking to escape
abusive relationships even now with the
kovat my goodness the pandemic is
even worse domestic violence is on the
rise
and there’s also statistics that we have
seen in in the United States that more
ammunition is sold in gun firearms guns
is really on the rise especially now we
are living as social epidemic of
domestic violence in the middle of
Health viral coronavirus pandemic
so it’s really dangerous so turning to
your own background I know that you were
raised in Venezuela by your parents and
I was wondering if you could maybe
describe your family dynamic and the
relationship between your parents it was
a loving family I mean we
Church Catholic Roman Catholic and it
was very happy my childhood was very you
know normal as she said I mean I have
siblings but we were raised you know in
a small town and every know each other
and we played on the streets there was
no cell phones and it was it was an
amazing time it was very organic very
natural life can you tell us and were
you ever exposed to given what you were
just saying were you ever exposed to any
type of cultural violence towards women
in your childhood or really prior to
your relationship with John no not at
all
I did hear growing out there’s a lot of
in South America and all of the America
is becoming me myself coming from Latin
American countries because I was born in
Ecuador raised in Venezuela I heard
about there’s a lot of much ISM culture
and a lot of women are subject to to
that and and uh son fortunately but I
did grew up you know not in that
environment by hair hearing about
there’s a lot of problems on cultural
like that and you know the patriarchal
society and all that it’s very
influenced and in our society as a
Latina and I basically knew of that but
I never was exposed to that understood
thank you
so some reports say that John may have
been a victim of violence in his
childhood would you be able to describe
John’s family and what his relationship
was like with his parents that’s news to
me
I never heard of him bean whenever he
never talked about him being abusive as
a child and during our marriage I never
met his parents I mean he was raised by
his aunt and uncle as far as I know and
I only met them twice did you see any
signs of John being controlling before
he actually became physically violent
not at all I mean he was very charming
he was I never seen the red flags during
our dating or courtship we were dating
for about nine and a half ten months
or we got married and he got abuse right
and when the first month when we were
still newlyweds so following along that
line then I know the police were called
to your home for domestic incidents do
you know how many times that happened I
don’t recall exactly how many times were
the police came to my home for domestic
violence issues that we have and I did
call — several times and that was
actually one of my defense and in court
so they did have the record in place
based on that and I think he got a rest
the very last time that I called the
police because of the record the police
show at my house and they said okay so
you know you called all the time and
they did took a John inhe handcuffs what
happened the other times
Loreena that you had called the police
what were the outcomes unfortunately the
police came but I don’t think they were
able to know what was going on or how to
handle a case of domestic violence it
was very sad to actually reach out for
help but then I know that nothing was
going to come on and resolve my problems
so I was kind of reaching out but at the
same time it was not very good and
result every time I call the police so
they come in plants I was very
intimidated by it by them because you
know see two men in uniform and I have
to show my bruises I have to show my bra
my my body it was really really
embarrassing it’s very traumatic
after being already traumatized by my
husband John was convicted of assaulting
you once from what we understand but the
charges were later dismissed
did he ever acknowledge his bad behavior
or his violence in this incident
absolutely not I mean it was all my
fault he was managed to twist everything
around a lot and remember I was between
and pounds and he was over almost
pounds and the dynamics of abuse was
extremely extremely different
there’s no way I couldn’t ever heard
them in there was no record in court
nothing recorded in any therapy sessions
of him taking any sort of acknowledgment
I believe when I called the military
police they had that on record maybe and
they it was used on my trial that he did
sign and he admitted abusing me and
hitting me punching me okay so we’re
gonna switch gears a little bit and I
want to talk about the forthcoming
lifetime movie I was Lorena Bobbitt so
in that movie when the plea deal was
offered it was depicted that you turned
it down immediately was that the reality
did you turn it down as quick as it
seemed in the movie or did you take a
little more time to consider a plea oh
absolutely I wanted to I didn’t want to
take the plea because I wanted to to be
so transparent I wanted to be able to
have that ditch him to tell my story I
know his story was already told but I
also wanted to tell the public I wanted
to tell the world what happened to me
with what I described a monster this
person did to me there was a lot of
things that I wanted to express and
Intel basically what really happened the
language barrier was a key issue for you
getting help were there any plans to
adapt the Lifetime movie to Spanish
absolutely I think it’s very important
to to translate not only in Spanish but
in many language because remember
domestic violence is affecting the whole
world it’s not only here in the United
States but in Latin America because like
we said there’s a lot of patriarchal
society machismo society it’s really sad
well in Europe
my goodness in Spain people there’s a
lot of women who get killed this is
happening every seconds a woman gets
abused here in the United States every
seconds it’s really unbelievable that
is that is really insane Larina have any
previous documentaries or movies gotten
anything wrong about your case that you
know of yes yes absolutely there is a
there could be a lot of you know a
missing for me
of course and remember the media did a
great job of portraying me as the crazy
blood latina which was very racial at
that time as well so the media did this
good job of portraying me the whole bran
and stuff very falsehood stories they
focus on sensationalistic stories lurid
details bizarre stories they were
focuses on his meat cutting of his penis
instead of the core of the whole story
which was domestic violence and sexual
assault this is a woman who this is a
story of a woman who have going through
abuse and nobody really talked about it
nobody really it seems like you care
they make jokes about it and that was
wrong though I agree and I think you
were right I think they missed it
completely on the first time now I just
have a question about the Lifetime movie
is there a reason why the prosecution’s
case wasn’t depicted at all in the film
into movie basically of it was my story
it was focus on me and John story
so that’s for the movie actually was
more director into another prosecution
but my defense
okay so Lorena let’s turn to the
criminal proceedings against you in
general a little bit one of the
questions that I always wonder about
people who take the stand so I’ll ask
you because you took the stand in your
own defense is do you regret getting up
and testifying in court absolutely no I
think that women it empowers women to
actually come to Courson and for them to
tell the story it empowers women to to
hear their voices and to to actually
understand that we our voices are going
to be heard whether is in the courtrooms
of law whether is outside of the law
whether is in society or whether is in
social media there’s a lot of stories
now an empowerment that women have come
and share the stories on social media
like with a me-too movement or the why I
stayed and the why I left campaigns I
think it’s very empowering for women to
know them now is okay to talk about it
and that’s one
the reasons I made the movie to keep the
conversations to keep my storytelling to
empower more victims and survivors of
domestic violence and sexual assault to
share the story that this is not
acceptable this is an issue issue that
we have to shift this I believe that you
said John used your immigration status
against you as a way to control you do
you think that your citizenship or your
nationality played a role or a
significant role in the way you were
treated in the criminal justice system I
don’t think that then actually had a big
impact and how affected my my role into
justice system I don’t believe that I’ve
heard women report feeling victimized by
the system again so I’m just wondering
did you feel at all victimized by our
legal system no I I don’t think that I
was victimized by the legal system at
all because I was they put a case and it
was basically you know this is what we
got and this is what we’re going to you
know have to find a way and and that’s
how I don’t feel dead that has an impact
on me at all in and against my justice
system I don’t think so ok so did you
feel a sense of fairness then with the
justice system yes I think that the
justice system was fair with me to me
okay good that’s good to know thank you
finally on this one you were found not
guilty by reason of temporary insanity
did spending the court-ordered days
in a psychiatric facility following your
verdict have any effect on you
whatsoever whether that would be a
positive or negative effect I tell you
what I fell some sense of relief when I
went to you know to the hospital the
psychiatric hospital because I was
surrounded by doctors but at the same
time I didn’t know what to expect and I
was more sense of relief after the media
I mean remember the media played a big
deal
emotionally and it was really
traumatizing to not to be able to see
what’s going on and these people are
joke
laughs about it and there’s not this is
not joking on somebody who get raped I
mean how can they make if a child gets
raped you know they don’t joke about it
then why should they joke about a woman
being raped it’s not different rape is
rape and so to me was more of a sense of
calm after I had to deal with the media
when I went to Central State Hospital
Loreena talking about the media do you
think the media attention hurt or helped
you in your case the media basically did
whatever it did I think that it hurt a
lot of people didn’t know how to react
and first of all it was a for the first
time it was a televised in the courtroom
so a lot of people have access to to see
my trial and know what happened and what
is that about but um the whole country
was divided I mean a man was with with
John women was with me supporting me and
you know some men also were supportive
of me as well but um it was a complete
it was a sense of division in the
country so it kind of played his own
role so being that John was so abusive
to you why do you think that he had so
much public support um again because I
think therefore the whole nature of his
own you know case that his penis was cut
off and that’s one of the part that you
know it was the whole thing was that was
just basically and I also remember how
her stone was there and he helped to
promote it to John and he was a popular
radio personality as I said but um you
know that happened as well and in the
hold like I said because uh people just
feel that it was more sensitive for what
they act instead of domestic violence
mm-hmm do you think the outcome of
John’s case would have been any
different if your trial had been first I
don’t think so because he was charged
with marital rape and no domestic
violence
I do wish that on his trial did Joe
would have include of the persecution
would have include domestic violence but
that was not the case unfortunately
lastly on the media and you may have
answered this to some degree but what is
one of the biggest exaggerations or
falsehoods the media reported about your
case or about you Lorena
the media missed a window of opportunity
to talk about domestic violence and talk
a lot of things and that is that itself
is a falsehood because they concentrated
more again in his mail you know
masculinity or again I should say I’m
just gonna go ahead his penis you know
then that was it instead of domestic
violence and sexual assault and I think
that does a falsehood and they reported
sensationalistic story it’s in the
details one of the things I’m wondering
is did any of your family or friends
abandon relationships with you after
your arrest or after your trial no
actually they were very very supportive
of me they were you know family was
always there my friends was always there
my community was actually you know there
for me and my job and everybody was you
know very very supportive that’s nice
I’m sure you were very grateful for the
support at the time absolutely you had a
former employer and friend Jenna Bisutti
and she seemed to support you in various
ways both before and after your arrest
and we see her depicted in the movie as
well what changed that led to the end of
your friendship with with her friendship
never ended I think that she was very
busy she’s a she’s a businesswoman and
when she was a businesswoman and she
couldn’t handle everything she just
tried to be my agent or she she she
wasn’t an attorney she wasn’t a manager
she at the same time she tried to raise
a family and run a business so she has
too much on her plate that it really got
too much and unfortunately you know just
you know sometimes people just get
caught up on those things and you know
leave your life and life goes on
understood thank you
in you appeared together on the
show The Insider with John so on the
show John apologized to you for the way
he treated you during your marriage do
you feel like that apology was sincere
absolutely not that there’s no sincere
on his apology
other than that media appearance have
you had any contact with John since your
trial
not at all I know that he tried to
contact me through my foundation my
organization which is Lorena Gallo
foundation and his public is a public
organization so he tried to pop up here
and there or send me emails and stuff
that’s something I can’t avoid because I
can’t close my organization it means
public so but yeah he used to send
people he is to send not only people but
notes and handwritten notes to me before
what was the nature of those notes was
it asking for forgiveness or apology I
don’t really know why he did that I mean
remember domestic violence is based on
control and basically it doesn’t let go
of I mean I don’t know if this man you
know he needs help
why can I say do you find yourself more
intuitive now about people who are
violent or abusive absolutely yes yes
I’ve learned to you know see the right
red flags yes absolutely and also I know
that domestic violence does not
discriminate as well so it can happen to
any of us
Lorena do you see significant changes
now in how we treat the issue of
domestic violence since your trial so
long ago yes it’s almost years there
was no vow of the Violence Against Women
Act there was no hotline thirty years
have passed we have seen changes and
those those the hotlines exist now
there’s a lot of protective orders that
you know they have actually protected
women and man there’s a lot of training
with the police or how to handle cases
and domestic violence a lot of things
have changed we actually you know
going into step of the right direction
in terms of yes we have seen a lot of
changes on how the victims are treated
but at the same time there’s a lot more
this much more to do there’s a lot of
work to be done to protect women to
protect victims of domestic violence and
sexual assault just as a follow-up to
that I’m just wondering or is there
anything you think we’re not doing well
or we’re not doing yet there’s a lot of
gaps that need to be closed like for
example firearms you know how can a
person is still on a firearm
after he’s being called with or or being
sent to jail after a domestic violence
you know a lot of our terrorists do you
know all gun shootings have not everyone
though but a lot of them has a domestic
violence background and themselves and
it’s mental health so there’s a there’s
a big gap there we need to close you
know there’s just one of them of many I
would agree thank you for that
Lorena what advice would you give to
someone who might be in your situation
who did not see the signs of violence
early on and didn’t see that really
until later in the relationship when
maybe it was you know too late when I
make this movie I wanted to actually
project not only for people to see the
dynamics of how domestic violence are I
wanted to you know they can see how
vulnerable victim of domestic violence
is and how brutally cruel and vicious
aggressive the perpetrators can be but I
also I want them to know that there’s a
connect it’s gotta be a connection
somewhere when they see a movie like
this in real life this is happening
there is there are resources I want them
to empower themselves by education there
with the tips of our fingers we can
actually use the internet and use those
resources empower yourself by educating
this yourself and I also want them to
know when they let them know that they
we’re in an abusive situation you never
should stay isolated always contact
people always contact a friend family
stay especially now that there’s a club
at the abuse
use isolation a lot to to hold you down
but you know you can still go and call
somebody be connected and also I want to
tell you the silence is not an option
isn’t it it’s never an option for me or
it should never be an option for you
resilience be resilience believe in
yourself there’s hope and there’s a lot
of things that people who are understand
your situation you are not alone thank
you for that lorina much appreciated so
you have a foundation you have done
documentary in a movie are there any
future projects right now that you’re
working on yes absolutely like I said my
main goal is to open up an emergency
shelter in the near future to help
victims of domestic violence and sexual
assault to escape abuse that’s wonderful
and and like I said I amaz I’m a speaker
I do a lot of speeches in colleges and
universities and in my community so it’s
it’s wonderful I work all the time in my
foundation that is wonderful and
speaking of your foundation can you
remind our listeners where they can find
your foundation if they’re interested
sure is Loreena gala foundation org or
you can actually see it on my facebook
the reina gala foundation
congratulations on the movie we watched
it I love that you are part of it I love
that you narrated part of it I thought
it added something so unique to it and I
thought it really made it it was really
able to understand and identify because
you were in there so thank you very much
and thank you for sharing with us really
appreciate it and we really wish you
luck thank you so much
absolutely Thank You Lorena for our
listeners you can check out the movie I
was Lorena Bobbit on Monday May th on
lifetime
I really enjoyed speaking to Lorena and
it’s very rare that you get to talk to
somebody who you see portrayed in a
certain way in the media I don’t know
about you Megan but when this case was
in the media I really I went along with
the narrative that the media was putting
out there she was
you know scorned woman and they really
didn’t talk much about the fact that she
was a victim herself they didn’t they
didn’t talk about the fact that she was
a victim actually as she said the most
hurtful thing was the way they made this
situation and I think one of the
takeaways here is you know the
difference between then and now
Lorena would have been treated a lot
differently and our system as she said
we’ve made some serious progress yes we
still have further to go but I think
Lorena is certainly part of that you
know the help or the movement to
progress us and get us forward and I
always found it interesting how they
both had supporters and I often wondered
was it the nature of the crime that a
lot of males were supporting John
Bobbitt because you think of what’s the
sign of masculinity right the male organ
and having a woman cut a male’s you know
castrate a man it was I think very like
we said very polarizing but I think it I
often wonder if she had cut off his arm
or his hand what would have have
different with this case at that I think
that’s a great point I mean then I have
to agree with you I think that it would
have been a whole different conversation
but you know what good for Lorena for
having this conversation now and keeping
it going and she’s gonna be you know
part of a movement to progress us
forward as a society so we thank you so
much Lorena we really appreciate it
speaking with you Thank You Lorena again
if you are interested in supporting
Lorena’s foundation or to even just
learn more about the movement please
check out Lorena Gallo foundation on
Facebook.
[Music]
Women & Crime is written and hosted by
Megan Sacks and Amy Schlosberg
our producer and editor is James Varga
our music is composed by desert media