Cyntoia Brown Opens Up About Life After Clemency, Marriage And Responds To Comments About Her Husband Jamie Long

Cyntoia Brown has started a new life to go along with her new last name after marrying #JamieLong, and in her first interview since her release, Brown opens up about life after clemency, love and responds to Pam from Total’s comments on her husband.

Brown-Long’s story was one that was heard around the nation. The now 31-year-old was previously serving life for killing a man at the age of 16, who was sex trafficking her. But, even bigger of a story was her receiving clemency after her journey reached the attention of several celebrities, including #Rihanna, Kim Kardashian, and the consistent help of her legal team.

Brown-Long opened up to NBC’s Lester Holt about how she was “nervous” that the fame of her case would anger the governor and be a detriment to her being released. “Suddenly, people like Kim Kardashian are tweeting about you and raising this issue of clemency. Was there a part of you that was afraid of the attention?” Holt asked. “I was,” Brown-Long said. “…maybe it could backfire?” asked Holt. “I was. So, like, I was so nervous. And then I was, like, “I don’t want the governor to think that, like, I’ve done this, like, to try to kinda, like, you know, push his hand. Like, that could backfire. That can look really bad.” We had actually even heard back from the governor’s counsel that, you know, the whole Kim Kardashian thing was not helping. So I was kinda fearful at first. But I had to just, like, trust that God had a plan,” Brown-Long said.

She also detailed the moment she shot her abuser #JohnnyAllen, which she admits was a close-range shot to the back of his head. “He is a victim, you know? He was, he was, his family’s a victim. You know, his friends, the people that knew him, the people that loved him. Like, they had someone snatched away from them. And I did that.” Now a married woman, Brown-Long, met her husband Jamie while in prison, and she says she’s ready to move on and show the world she’s more than what is in the headlines. “I want them to see that I’m so much more than the worst thing that I’ve done. You know, I’m so much more than that moment.”

In another interview with Essence, Brown-Long responded to Pam’s comments on her marriage to Jamie. Pam was previously married to Jamie and claimed he is “manipulating” Brown-Long for fame. “People just think that they know you, they invite themselves into your personal lives. There’s a certain element when you put yourself in the public eye, there’s a certain part that will be brought to scrutiny. I don’t give much thought. My family feels the same way.”