Sophia Michaels
Michelle Branch has spoken out about her recent marital troubles with Patrick Carney in several interviews. The musician, whose fourth studio LP The Trouble with Fever, which was co-produced by Carney, arrives tomorrow, expressed regret on how the situation with her husband played out.
In an appearance on the Tamron Hall Show on Thursday, Branch confirmed that she did have a physical altercation with Carney last month. “They are not allegations,” she told Hall. “Violence, I don’t condone violence. I slapped my husband. Not the finest moment of my life.”
The singer added that there were several factors involved in the widely-reported incident, including her being postpartum and having had “a few drinks” at a birthday party. “All the blocks were stacked in a way I didn’t have time to think about, really, what I was doing,” she recounted to Hall. “It was one of those things where I was like, ‘Is this really happening? Did this really just happen?’”
Last month, the couple made headlines when Branch tweeted, “Just found out my husband cheated on me… while I was home with our 6-month-old daughter.”
Hours later, the “Everywhere” singer was arrested at around 2 a.m. on August 11 after police were called to the couple’s home in an upscale suburb of Nashville for an alleged domestic disturbance. Branch purportedly admitted she slapped Carney in the face “one or two times” during an argument. A Davidson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson confirmed the arrest to Rolling Stone and stated Branch was released on $1,000 bail the same day. The domestic assault case was later dropped and the couple have agreed to suspend their pending divorce case for six months to attempt reconciliation.
In an interview with People, the singer said she shouldn’t have sent the tweet. “I definitely shouldn’t have taken to Twitter to say anything,” Branch told People. “Here I am saying, ‘Please respect our privacy,’ but I’m the one who said it to the world.”
Branch explained, in interview with Yahoo Entertainment, that the couple are indeed attempting to repair their relationship.
“I mean, he’s the father of my children. I love him very much,” she said. “I think in a perfect world, we’ll figure out a way to make it work. I don’t know. It’s just still so fresh and so raw. But there’s a deep friendship at the basis of our relationship. So, hopefully that will still be there, regardless of what happens in our marriage.”
To Hall, Branch added that she and Carney have enlisted the help of professional. “My husband and I have started therapy recently,” she said. “And I wish we had started it six months ago. I wish that we had gotten help and talked to someone sooner… The night, what went down, was so unfortunate. It was like the worst night of my life.”
Branch said she doesn’t want her personal drama to impact the album, which she finished in 2020 and has been sitting on since.
“I’ve been able to kind of compartmentalize the album and what’s been going on recently,” Branch confirmed to Yahoo. “I feel like my creative working relationship with Patrick is something that I really value. That’s not tarnished, and what we worked on together isn’t tarnished. He’s always been such a huge advocate and supporter of me in that regard. So, I have been able to kind of separate it.”
Elsewhere in the interview with Yahoo, Branch explained how difficult it to see Carney going out on tour and leaving the couple’s two children behind.
“It’s hard,” she said. “I mean, there are days when my son, who just turned four, is in tears, like: ‘I want Daddy to be home! Why does Daddy have to play concerts?’ It sucks sometimes. And I’m getting ready to leave in less than a week on tour. And I’m going to bring my daughter with me, because she’s seven months old and I’m still breastfeeding. I’m going to leave my [older] kids with the nanny, and Patrick will be in and out from tour, and grandparents come in. It takes a village.”
Branch, 39, and Carney, 42, married in New Orleans in 2019 after they welcomed their first child together, a son, in 2018. They welcomed their second child in February 2022.
Branch filed for divorce on Aug. 12, citing irreconcilable differences.
“To say that I am totally devastated doesn’t even come close to describing how I feel for myself and for my family. The rug has been completely pulled from underneath me, and now I must figure out how to move forward,” Branch said in a statement to People. “With such small children, I ask for privacy and kindness.”
Earlier this month, a judge in Tennessee signed a court order stating that Branch and Carney can attempt to repair their marriage without giving up any ground in the event the effort fails. The couple has six months to attempt reconciliation.
