The singer’s post also included clips from her 2017 speech at Safe Horizon’s 22nd Annual Champion Awards. At the time, Jana shared that her alleged abuser was an ex-husband of hers. (She has previously accused her first husband, Michael Gambino, of physical abuse. In 2005, he was convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released in 2010 and died by suicide two years later.)
“It started with little comments here and there,” she said in her speech, without naming her abuser. “Then it started with more verbal abuse. And then it started with a push or a shove. And then it became a choke.”
Ultimately, she felt as though she lost jobs because her performance in auditions was being affected by her situation.
“I was a girl full of light and full of energy and charm,” she said in 2017. “And this man just broke me down to absolute nothing.”
She added, “Once my abuser was in jail, I was finally able to be set free.”
