Michelle Branch Addresses Domestic Dispute: “What Went Down Was So Unfortunate”

News of a domestic assault case involving singer/songwriter Michelle Branch and her husband The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney broke on August 11. Since then, Branch has opened up about the state of her marriage, that “unfortunate” night, and how it all relates to her latest album The Trouble with Fever (out September 16).

“I think in a perfect world, we will figure out a way to make things work, fingers crossed,” Branch told American Songwriter about her marriage. “Patrick will always be an important creative collaborator of mine. [Carney produced ‘The Trouble with Fever.’] I really feel like that relationship, first and foremost, will always be there between us. He’s been someone who’s always really encouraged me, and really pushed me to show up for myself in an artistic way. I really admire that about him. So while this is kind of a strange time to be promoting a record we worked on together, I’m able to compartmentalize this as a work relationship. This is our work. There’s drama but, this is our work and I’m still proud of it regardless of what’s going on.”

Diving further into the details of this watershed moment, Branch revealed that to make it work with Carney, the couple has sought out help from a psychologist. “My husband and I have started therapy,” Branch told Tamron Hall on her talk show, “and I wish that we’d started it six months ago. I wish we had gotten help and talked to someone sooner. It’s made such a huge difference in such a short amount of time.”

She continued: “What went down was so unfortunate. It was like the worst night of my life… All I can do is be honest about what I’m going through and what’s going on.”

Following these statements, Branch also confirmed, “I slapped my husband—not the finest moment of my life,” to Hall.

In response, Hall offered her two cents on the incident. “One thing I’ve not said publically, even though I’ve done a lot of work inspired by the loss of my sister, I’ve been an advocate for people to understand that people make mistakes,” Hall said. “And even in the world and conversation of domestic violence, we have to allow for people who make that mistake to be rehabilitated and have an opportunity to get it right.”

As the conversation between the two women came to an end, Branch explained that the incident in question occurred during a period of high stress for the singer. She stated she was only seven months postpartum and the stressors of releasing an album were building. Branch also stated that she had had a few drinks that night, too. “All the blocks were stacked in a way that I didn’t have time to think about what I was doing,” she stated.

Watch the full interview between Branch and Hall below.

(Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)