Beth Stelling Will Not Be Stopped; Rising Comedy Star Shares Abusive Past and Bright Future on Instagram

beth stelling simply the beth

Beth Stelling Reveals Domestic Abuse History on Instagram

Monday afternoon rising comedy star Beth Stelling posted on her Instagram some very personal photos showing her badly bruised legs, along with a statement announcing that she has been the victim in a past abusive relationship. If you’ve ever seen Beth perform you know her as a powerful, confident woman, and so the revelations she shares in the Instagram are shocking and troubling on many levels. If you’ve seen her in person, you know she’s tall, and exudes a quiet kind of strength in her demeanor.

So when she shared on her Instagram that she broke up with an abusive ex, and then relapsed and connected him with again, and dated him for two months “after being verbally, physically abused and raped” it’s hard to even comprehend. And perhaps that is exactly why she is choosing to bravely share her story.

Beth’s story immediately went viral across the internet Monday. Her Instagram post was shared in dozens of major publications, like People Magazine, Entertainment Tonight, Jezebel, Cosmo and Vulture, Complex and PerezHilton.com just for starters. Many people who didn’t know Beth Stelling yesterday, are reading her story today and some might think of her as a victim, others will think of her as a survivor. But as you read Beth Stelling’s story don’t make the mistake of limiting her to just a victim of abuse, or a survivor of abuse in your mind, although she is both. She’s also a powerful comedic voice, who has a bright shining future ahead of her.

I spoke with Beth back in October about her new special and her new album. We spent nearly an hour on the phone and I later got the chance to meet her face to face, and see her perform live during the New York Comedy Festival in November.  She struck me then, not only for the strength of her comedy, but also at her maturity and drive, particular considering how early on she is in her career.  Stelling is already well on her way to being an important comedian. That’s not my opinion, it’s a fact.  Her comedy is complex, original and sharp, and she is being recognized for it in all the right places.  She’s a Los Angeles comic now, but her career started taking off when she was still in Chicago and was named an Editors Pick by the Chicago Reader in 2010. In 2011, she was one of the Just for Laughs New Faces- an honor and an important recognition.  Things took off from there, when she moved to Los Angeles and had appearances on Conan, @midnight, Chelsea Lately and the Pete Holmes Show.

The incredible 2015 she mentions in her Instagram post is no exaggeration, this has been a transitional year for Stelling all around. Professionally it has been a huge leap forward.  Comedy heavyweight Paul F. Tompkins said he considers her one of his favorite comedians. Patton Oswalt tweeted out support for her  comedy. Jimmy Kimmel thinks she’s fabulous too, and LA Weekly called her show at UCB Sunset one of the best new shows of 2015.  Kimmel was in the audience for one of those shows and after seeing her, personally invited her to be a guest on his show. That’s pretty spectacular; Kimmel doesn’t usually scout and book his own show.  She had a great appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live back in March and since then has toured internationally twice (Ireland and New Zealand), put out her second album and a Comedy Central Half Hour Special, and has received accolades every step of the way.

We now know that 2015 has been a year of great personal change as well.  She left behind an abusive relationship and started a new healthier one.  Stelling told me she met and fell for comedian Sam Morril while she was recording her special for Comedy Central in Boston this past June.  Sam was recording his own Comedy Central half hour at the time. She posted a happy photo of her and Morril on her Instagram Monday as evidence that there are also great men in the world.  She posted that Morill has helped her to recover. “Sam Morril was a friend to me getting out of my last relationship,” she wrote. “He listened, made me laugh, comforted me. He encouraged me as I toured the world, respected me and my work, and he stuck by me when I made it really difficult to want to. He is a good partner and I love the man.”

Both Stelling and Morril are on our list of the best albums of the year for 2015 (due out later this week). Beth’s  album- Simply the Beth– is a breakout album for Stelling, even though she feels she could have done it even better, but as she told me in October, she’s a perfectionist.

“It takes years to be a really good headliner” she told me, “but I’m on my way.”

Yes, yes you are.

Read her Instagram posts below, and the Facebook post by her boyfriend Sam, as well as the long list of tweets sent out by her comedy friends and supporters.

https://www.instagram.com/p/_2AwgCQzty/

https://www.instagram.com/p/_2fp-rwzjs/?taken-by=bethstelling

https://twitter.com/kumailn/status/681548516896813056

https://twitter.com/SaraJBenincasa/status/681604131182739457

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