Buckle up, Jana Kramer’s full Red Table Talk episode is here!
The actress got real candid about her breakup with ex-husband Mike Caussin — after he cheated on her with “more” than 13 women — in the new episode of the Facebook show out on Wednesday. Just to make it clear how betrayed she felt by her longtime husband and the father of her two children, the One Tree Hill alum revealed she “destroyed” all his stuff in the most epic way when she learned of his latest infidelity!
Related: Jana Kramer Opens Up About Abusive Ex
While chatting with Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and Will Smith’s first wife Sheree Zampino (filling in for Willow Smith), the country musician dished:
“I shattered so many things in my house.”
And she really means shattered!! The singer continued:
“There was this pantry door – He wanted it to say, ‘Pantry door.’ I’m like, ‘Would you like to label every door?’ – So me and my girlfriends, we took a bat to it and we just shattered it.”
Oh, s**t!! Just so he really felt it where it hurt, she made sure to attack all of his other so-called vices, too, she explained:
“I destroyed all of his XBoxes and all those things that he said was his only vice. I wrote all over his tux. I went real crazy for a minute.”
Damn! Taking a page right out of Beyoncé’s book!
As we’ve been following, the couple called it quits in April 2021 after Jana discovered Mike had been cheating on her. It wasn’t exactly anything new — he had strayed several times throughout their relationship. First, just weeks into dating back in 2014, and then a few years later in 2016 (after they were already married). He later revealed he went to treatment for sex addiction at that time. For the most part, Jana stayed by his side, finding ways to forgive him and hold tight to the nuclear family she always dreamed of — despite a brief separation while he was off at treatment.
Unfortunately, just as they were at the peak of their career (as a couple), everything came crashing down. Just before discovering her hubby was being unfaithful (again), Jana and Mike released a bestselling book, The Good Fight, chronicling their journey to forgiveness. But looking back, she says he “did not tell the truth” in the book, which makes her feel embarrassed. They were also co-hosting the Whine Down podcast together, something Mike claimed ruined their romance. The 38-year-old explained:
“We had just became New York Times bestselling authors about how we got past this, and I’m like, I look like a f**king idiot. But he says the podcast was a catalyst for more of his cheating because it made him feel like he ‘always had the spotlight on him,’ so then I felt like it was my fault, because if only we didn’t have that podcast, he wouldn’t have cheated.”
He really went around gaslighting her when he was the one sneaking off with a dozen women while claiming he was done cheating?! SMH.
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The Holiday Fix-Up star went on to explain why she stayed with the former NFL player for as long as she did if he had a pattern of cheating from the start. She revealed:
“I was 30 and I really wanted a family. I had just been searching to find my worth through a man. There were flags in the beginning. He had cheated a month into dating but I’m like, ‘It’s OK, I’ve cheated in past relationships and I didn’t forgive myself for it so I’m going to forgive you. I can make this work. We can grow together.’ In the marriage, too, every time he cheated for a second, third, however many times, I’d be like, I forgive you.”
Her desire to find her person and stay with them forever was influenced by her childhood, she noted:
“I came from a broken family and my whole thing was, I do not want my children to grow up in a broken house. […] Even when he would have a few months of no cheating, then something would happen, and I’m like, now I’m back to that overwhelming, oh my God, my family is falling apart and now I need to grasp tighter. And then I’d get even more anxious attachment, and then he couldn’t breathe because I’m just like clinging on to him. And so it just became this cycle.”
And he was probably perpetuating that narrative the whole time, making her feel like she was part of the problem. No wonder it got complicated!
Despite getting back together with Mike in 2017 following a brief breakup, Jana admitted she never fully forgave him for cheating on her, saying:
“I didn’t forgive him. I said I trusted him, [but] I didn’t trust him. I still was always looking, trying to find things and I was … waiting for the next shoe to drop. And it wasn’t good for my kids. By that time we had two kids, and you just put all this pressure on yourself, ‘I’m gonna stay again and try this, and next time not to be controlling. Maybe then he’ll not cheat on me.’”
Sadly, it’s only thanks to her lack of trust that she ever found out Mike was off with several other women! When her daughter Jolie (now 6) was four months old, a friend suggested she look through their phone bills to figure out if he was cheating after having suspicions. The Whiskey vocalist did so and discovered his first affairs, she recalled:
“I started calling these numbers and that’s when I found out the truth.”
Oooh, bold! Still, Mike always found the right thing to say to prove to his wife he’d be a “better man” and never wander again. And this was happening time and time again. So tough. She’s so much better off without that drama now!
Jana’s now trying to stay strong (and learn to forgive) for her kids, Jolie and Jace, 3, as she co-parents with the athlete. It’s not easy, though, since she’s fielding constant criticism from those online:
“People slide into my DMs: ‘How much longer are you going to keep talking about it? Won’t you heal already?’ And I’m like, shoot you are right. I’m like, is it time to really let it go so you can grow?”
The consensus from the round table? Stop looking at DMs and just focus on healing in her own time. It doesn’t have to happen on anyone else’s time, BUT hers. We’d say that’s pretty solid advice! You can check out more from the conversation (below)!
Whoa… She really laid it all out on the table. So powerful! Reactions?! Let us know (below)!
[Image via Red Table Talk/Facebook & Beyoncé/Access/YouTube]
