Lorena Bobbitt tells her own story in “I Was Lorena Bobbitt,” a “Ripped from the Headlines” Lifetime pic directed by Danishka Esterhazy and written by Barbara Nance. A trailer just dropped for the project, which is exec produced and narrated by Bobbitt.
Bobbitt became a household name in 1993 when she cut off her husband’s penis with a kitchen knife and was subsequently put on trial. Sensationalized accounts of the case often reduced the immigrant to a racist punchline, and ignored or minimized the fact that she claimed her husband, John Wayne, physically and sexually abused her.
“How did it feel to cut off your husband’s johnson?” a reporter in the trailer asks Lorena (Dani Montalvo). Another adds, “Do you feel like a hero to women?”
“I Was Lorena Bobbitt” sees Lorena preparing to take the stand and speak her truth. “[John Wayne] hurt me over and over again. Now I get to tell what that monster did to me,” says Lorena.
Bobbitt was the subject of last year’s Amazon docuseries “Lorena.” She’s devoted her life to advocating for other abused women.
“I Was Lorena Bobbitt” premieres May 25 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime. The network will run a PSA for the National Domestic Violence Hotline and the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence featuring the actors and Bobbitt, as part of their Stop Violence Against Women campaign.
