On Sunday night, a woman reported to be radio shock jock Anthony Cumia’s girlfriend livestreamed a video from his home in which she said he had just physically assaulted her: “I got my hand broken, I’m waiting for police to come,” she said, showing the camera her bruises. Cumia has been criminally charged, and his fans are taking it real, real well.
The woman is Dani Golightly, 26, real name Danielle Brand, an aspiring comic and the daughter of Vinnie Brand, who owns the Stress Factory comedy club in New Jersey. Court records show that Cumia has been charged with two felonies against her: strangulation in the second degree and criminal mischief in the third degree, as well as two misdemeanors, preventing an emergency call and unlawful imprisonment. Strangulation is a class D violent felony offense, punishable by up to seven years in prison; the criminal mischief charge carries a possible prison sentence of up to four years.
Cumia, a known racist, sexist, and Islamophobe, has a loyal and unhinged Twitter following. After she livestreamed the incident, they’ve devoted themselves to telling Golightly that she’s a cunt liar who’s obviously faking it. A tiny, tiny sampling:
Golightly first appeared on Cumia’s previous show, the Opie & Anthony Show, in 2008, when she was 19:
Golightly shares some of Cumia’s nasty sense of humor, making jokes on Twitter about Muslims, “transsexuals,” and, a few days ago, a crack about domestic violence:
She’s complained previously about the oppression of straight white men.
A Page Six report today quoting a purported “insider” referred to her and Cumia’s relationship as “twisted” and said their fights frequently got “ugly.” She has previously uploaded videos of Cumia ranting at her, using racial slurs and accusing her of “giving away shit” from his house. She also expresses what sounds like weariness with how his fans receive her videos: “Right, well, you can I guess go on Reddit and Twitter and write about it, and ruin my life a little bit more than it was.”
Cumia is due back in court January 4. Usually a prolific tweeter of garbage, he’s been silent the past two days.
Contact the author at anna.merlan@jezebel.com.
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Cumia in April 2014. Image via Getty.
DISCUSSION
Slight side note, I want to give a shoutout to my friend who helped in some of the work to get strangulation put in as a separate felony crime distinct and more serious than just domestic abuse. It’s only been in the law for 5 years (as part of a national push by advocates for DV victims) at this point, but it’s vital, considering how studies show that DV cases involving strangulation are at the highest risk to escalate to serious bodily injury or death. You do not put your hands around someone’s neck in anger unless you want to kill them, and so it’s great to see the law used like this.