Tyra Talks To Abusive Teen Boyfriend

Yesterday’s Tyra focused on teenage domestic violence. Normally, we’d think she was just piggy-backing on Rihanna’s story to chase some ratings (or to copy Oprah), but it turned out to be an enlightening discussion.

Edwin, 18, has punched and choked Leighann, 17, the mother of his child. The couple, along with Leighann’s mother, were on the show to talk about the abuse, why Leighann won’t leave him, and what goes through Edwin’s mind when he’s being violent. Tyra dealt with Edwin really well, managing to be understanding, compassionate, and willing to get him help, but without letting him off the hook, and keeping him in check, saying, “If you’re here with me, we can work this out. If you wanna antagonize, this is the Tyra show, and I will take over and it’ll be a whole other thing.”