“He still hasn’t taken responsibility to this day,” she says

Apr 15, 2015 15:02 GMT  ·  By
Christy Mack does first interview since ex War Machine beat her to a pulp in her home
   Christy Mack does first interview since ex War Machine beat her to a pulp in her home

Christy Mack, the adult star whose story became one of the biggest domestic abuse stories in showbiz in 2014, when her ex-boyfriend, MMA fighter War Machine (Jon Koppenhaver), beat her to within an inch of her life, is speaking out on the brutal attack.

In a candid interview with ESPN’s Jane McManus, Mack opens for the first time to a media outlet about the attack, her relationship with the athlete, who is now on trial for 36 separate charges stemming from the attack, and how she’s coping with recovery and the new reality of her life.

A sad story of abuse and its dire consequences

Mack is an adult film star, but she stopped doing movies when she first started dating War Machine. Though he too had some experience in this field and Christy’s resume was what first attracted him to her, he was the jealous type and he forbade her from working in the industry.

She didn’t mind it, she recalls. Neither did she mind his violent outbursts at first, erroneously interpreting them as signs that he really, truly loved her. Plus, she says, every time he would hit her (and he started doing it within months of getting together), he would act like Mr. Perfect after that, for at least a week.

Soon, those days after a violent episode became the highlights of the relationship. By the time Christy realized that there was something very wrong with the way War Machine treated her, she was already head over heels in love.

They broke up and reconciled a few times before May last year, when she decided that she’d had enough. He didn’t seem to think the same way, because he showed up at her house in the middle of the night in August, using a key he still had, and began pounding on her and the male friend she was spending the night with.

Her account of the violent outburst is the same as when she made the first statement after her hospitalization. You can find it in the tweet below, together with the gruesome photos of the injuries sustained.

Mack says she can’t say any more because of the ongoing trial. Still, she admits that she was hurt to see War Machine laugh at her in court, when she recounted for the judge and jury the events of that night.

“It’s so hard to go every day without being you anymore”

Christy Mack is still in recovery from the injuries she sustained in the beating. She’s still seeing a dentist regularly because she lost several teeth, and is getting plastic surgery on her face to repair the damage.

She’s not growing out her hair just yet, after War Machine took a knife to her famous mohawk, cutting it off. She admits that she has trouble looking in the mirror and recognizing the face staring back at her: she doesn’t know that person. Slowly, she is getting back to her former life.

War Machine could spend the remainder of his life in jail if he’s found guilty of all charges, which include torture, attempted rape, kidnapping and attempted murder.

But the thought that he still believes he’s being wronged by the entire world, including by Mack, is what most bothers his ex.

“It hurt so much to know he was so separated from the situation. He still hasn't taken responsibility to this day,” she says. “He blames his childhood, he blames me, he blames fighting. He claims he found God now-- he's looking for any kind of way not to take responsibility for what happened.”