Jayson Williams used to play basketball for the New Jersey Nets, but now he is serving time in jail for a violent crime. But just because he is locked away, that doesn’t mean his name is staying out of the headlines. His ex-wife is revealing some information about her marriage to the former basketball star.
Tanya Young Williams, now a cast member of the VH1 reality show “Basketball Wives, L.A.,” has reportedly told sources that before she filed for divorce from her ex two years ago, their marriage included bouts of domestic violence. She claims that she used to be so scared of her husband that she “slept with a knife under her bed.”
The Huffington Post interviewed the soon-to-be-ex-basketball-wife with regards to her involvement in the controversial reality show. Some critics of the VH1 program believe that the show portrays African American women in a negative light. Tanya Young Williams, however, sees the show as an opportunity to raise awareness about domestic violence.
She reports that her estranged husband’s moods became unpredictable when they were married. She never knew when she was going to be with the man whom she fell in love with and married, or the man whom she was afraid of when he was under the influence of alcohol or prescription drugs. She’s reportedly taken the fear and sadness she lived with during her marriage and become a spokeswoman for the National Domestic Violence Hotline. She believes she can further a helpful, anti-abuse message through her contribution on the reality show.
Jayson Williams is scheduled to get out of prison in several months. The couple has been working on the details of their looming divorce since Tanya reportedly filed the papers two years ago, and it is yet to be finalized. She claims she is not interested in rekindling her relationship with her ex; rather, her highest priority is to ensure that their kids can have a healthy relationship with the man whom she believes is a good father.
Source
The Huffington Post: “Tanya Young Williams, Jayson Williams’ Estranged Wife, On ‘Basketball Wives,’ Domestic Violence,” Brennan Williams, Sep. 19, 2011
