Who Is Jacqueline Howard? Details On The WNBA's Natasha Howard's Wife And Her Domestic Abuse Allegations
She accused her on Twitter.
Getty Jacqueline and Natasha Howard met in 2016 and got married in 2017. Things started out great, but last year, they took a turn for the ugly.
Natasha is a forward for the WNBA's Seattle Storms. She was drafted fifth in 2014 to the Indiana Fever. She met Jacqueline during her WNBA career and the two tied the knot in 2017. She was traded to the Storms, and the newlyweds moved to Seattle in 2018.
However, in July 2019, Jacqueline took to Twitter accusing her soon to be ex-wife of abuse.
Who is Jacqueline Howard, Natasha Howard's wife?
Jacqueline claimed Natasha physically abused her.
In a series of tweets published to Jacqueline's Twitter feed last summer, Howard accused her wife of violence towards her.
She posted pictures of bruises, videos of them shouting at each other and text conversations between the two of them, showing the turmoil in the relationship.
Jacqueline also alleged emotional abuse.
Jacqueline had a brother who committed suicide. She wrote about it on Twitter on July 13, 2019. She followed up by saying that Natasha had known this and used her fear as a way to keep Jacqueline in the relationship.
She later tweeted, “You know what gets to me the most?? I told her all that I’ve been through, just for her to do me even worse.”
This is a form of emotional abuse, to use someone's love for you against them, in a way that causes fear or self-loathing.
Emotional or psychological abuse is defined as any abusive behavior that isn't physical, which may include verbal aggression, manipulation and humiliation, and which most often unfolds as a pattern of behavior over time that aims to diminish another person's sense of identity, dignity and self-worth.
Natasha denied the allegations.
Natasha Howard denied all allegations of abuse towards her ex-wife. In fact, just days after the allegations, she filed first for divorce and then for a restraining order against Jacqueline.
She released an official statement saying, "The allegations that have been made against me are very serious. I deny them. I do not take them lightly, but I do not want to believe that they should be evaluated and decided through social media or through the media generally. That is why I have waited to comment."
Jacqueline said she wanted Natasha to get help.
At the time, Jacqueline said didn't want to press charges. She hoped that the WNBA would look into her ex-wife's actions and mental health. She wanted Natasha's fans, friends, and family to encourage her to get mental health support.
She was quoted as saying, "Also, if I wanted Tasha arrested, I clearly could have that happen. That’s NOT what I want. I want her to get HELP, real help. The fact that everyone is trying to protect her and her image instead of realizing she’s been wearing a mask in front of cameras is so sickening.”
The WNBA and the Storms launched an investigation.
The WNBA launched an investigation to see if Jacqueline's claims were true. While they launched an investigation, Howard continued to play. She was even named to play in the 2019 WNBA All Star game.
Jacqueline took to twitter again to say, “The WNBA tends to sweep certain things under the rug and I hope this isn’t one of them.”
Natasha made her own accusations against Jacqueline.
She accused Jacqueline of stealing money from her ($600,000, to be exact) and of stabbing her back in 2016. She claimed that because of Jacqueline, she was broke. In a court declaration, she wrote, “I was left with no money, and I had to borrow funds for groceries.”
The restraining order would be able to prevent Jacqueline from having any further access to Natasha's funds.
Also in a court statement, Natasha had claimed that Jacqueline had stabbed her:
“Jackyy has provided nothing to support her claim. That is because it is absolutely false. I have never used any knife or scissors or any sharp object of any kind to hurt Jackyy (or anyone) ever. It is Jackyy who stabbed me and caused me serious harm. In fact, after this my team in South Korea insisted that Jackyy leave the country.”
Twitter showed full support of Jacqueline.
A lot of people reached out to Jacqueline to show their support for her courage in standing up against her alleged abuser. @thenewcolossus1 said "Good luck J... You must have a big heart because you did not press charges. Take care of yourself, this entire thing is such a mess."
@GOAG69828651 tweeted "@stopthepress93 , you are supported. Reprimanding the @seattlestorm . #SeattleStorm #NatashaHoward #Abuse."
Editor's Note: This article was originally posted in July 2019 and was updated with the latest information.
Kaitlin Kaiser is a writer who writes about love, relationships, self-care, spirituality and astrology.