Ashanti’s sister, Kenashia “Shia” Douglas, has been through so much.
It was hard enough growing up in her famous sister’s shadow, but on top of that, she also suffered for years while she was in a seriously toxic relationship.
Luckily, she was able to escape and share her story with the world.
And she was also supported by her big sister.
Ashanti’s Sister Kenashia Posts Photos Of Her Domestic Violence Injuries
In 2020, Hot 97 released a report about how Shia shared a video on her Instagram for her 31st birthday.
You might not think that’d be a newsworthy story, but it was some of the pictures that she included in the video that ended up making the post headline news.
The video started off with really cute home-video footage of her when she was a little girl.
But about one minute into the video about her life, things got much darker when she included photos of herself with some seriously gruesome injuries.
The stomach-turning pictures were from when she was harmed by her ex.
Kenashia, Ashanti And Tina Douglas Speak Out
It wasn’t until a few years later, though, that the public got to hear exactly what happened to her.
An article by PEOPLE talked about an episode of Red Table Talk where Ashanti, her sister, and their mom, Tina Douglas, were interviewed about what Shia went through at the hands of her ex.
Ashanti revealed that she didn’t know when it started, but it was ‘gut-wrenching’ for her when she found out.
She explained that as difficult as it was for her, she felt like she had to respect her sister’s decisions.
But that didn’t stop her from telling Shia that she was in a toxic relationship.
Ashanti told her: “You guys being together is like you’re each drinking bleach. It’s toxic.”
She also confessed that she understood that growing up with a famous sister meant that she wanted her own stuff.
So there were certain things that she felt like she had to put up with.
Ashanti Said, ‘… I Got The Bat. I Pulled Up In The Truck …’
Sadly, there was no guidebook on how to handle the situation they were in.
Ashanti agreed with her mom when she shared that witnessing the toxic relationship was the hardest thing she’d ever done in her life.
Ashanti admitted that there was one point where she reached her limit and felt the need to take drastic measures to deal with her sister’s partner.
She explained that even though she wasn’t a violent person, she used her resources and connections to make calls to see if she could find someone who would give Shia’s ex a taste of his own medicine.
But her sister ‘didn’t want to take that route.’
One time, when she got a distressing phone call from her sister, Ashanti reportedly saw red and wanted to take matters into her own hands.
She said: “I went in the garage. I got the bat. I pulled up in the truck. I had Vaseline. I was ready.”
She was willing to take him on by herself, because she had that much adrenaline in her.
Ashanti Praises Her Sister’s Strength
Ashanti once again showed her support when she shared a post about her sister in October 2022.
And you could honestly tell just how proud she was of her.
Ashanti took to Instagram to praise Shia for her strength.
She shared some of the graphic photos that her sister had posted in the birthday video two years earlier, which included an especially brutal picture of Shia with missing teeth.
Ashanti captioned it by saying that it was DV awareness month, and that words would never be able to express the amount of pain, fury, and disgust she felt reliving those moments.
She went on to share that at the same time, she was also so proud of how strong, courageous, resilient, and unbreakable Shia was.
She wrote: “My sister is a warrior! I love you deep and infinitely.”
She then thanked her for being so brave and bringing awareness to this evil, vile, and sad behavior that so many women face every day.
Ashanti finished her message by pointing out that some women felt so scared that they had no way out, and by sharing her story, she brought hope, strength, and continued to raise awareness of DV.
Kenashia Speaks Out About Domestic Violence
Shia also used her Instagram to talk about the serious issue earlier that month.
While talking about her traumatic experience, she shared that it was dangerous not only for obvious reasons but also because to the outside world, everything seemed fine.
It reportedly got to a point where the harming was regular behavior, and she would fight back and pick up whatever she could to protect herself.
Shia wrote: “I look at these pictures and I hold grace and patience for the woman I was and everything she didn’t know!”
She added that she didn’t consider herself a victim or a survivor.
It was all a part of her story, her life and her journey.
It sounds like she went through something so unbelievably difficult.
Who Is Kenashia’s Ex Who Beat Her?
But who could’ve treated her so badly?
Well, even though Shia and Ashanti never named the ex, it didn’t take long for the media and the public to figure out who it must’ve been.
Sportskeeda reported that in an interview with Angie Martinez, Ashanti even hinted at who it was.
When the host asked her if the ex was someone people were aware of, Ashanti immediately answered that it was someone Angie knew.
So, clearly, it was someone well-known.
It didn’t take long for internet sleuths to figure out that the most likely candidate was the rapper Slowbucks.
He and Shia were in a relationship for 13 years before getting engaged in 2016.
When she shared the video for her 31st birthday in 2020, news outlets like That Grape Juice figured out that the person to blame for her shocking photos was probably him.
The outlet also reported that 50 Cent even called the rapper out.
He took to Instagram to write: “Yo what’s wrong wit you boy, hitting that girl like that.”
Kenashia And Slowbucks’ Relationship
The pair have reportedly had beef with each other over the years.
In the interview for Red Table Talk, Shia went into detail about how things soured in her relationship and the brutal final years before it finally ended.
She explained that she met Slowbucks when she was just a teenager, and it started out on a real high.
She would get lots of attention and gifts from him.
But that shine wore off, and he allegedly hurt her, mentally and verbally.
According to Shia, she felt connected to the man who was harming her because of the childhood trauma she went through when she was younger.
She told the hosts that she wanted to fill a void.
She claimed that the inner child traumas she had were because of her sister’s career.
And she found that trauma is not only something a person experiences – it’s something they’re lacking as well.
Kenashia’s Heartbreaking News
Later on in the Red Table Talk episode, Shia revealed something heartbreaking.
She claimed that her partner’s threatening behavior, and the mental, verbal, and emotional harm he did to her, caused her to lose a baby when she was 4 months pregnant.
Shia admitted that she and her man broke up a number of times.
But because of his mental manipulation, she felt like she needed to protect him, so she’d be open to making up.
It was when they got back together the first time though that the physical harm reportedly began.
She said: “He began to become very very jealous, very angry, even more controlling than he had already been.”
After years of putting up with him, Shia finally reached her limit after something truly horrific happened to her.
She alleged that during a small quarrel with him, her fiance suddenly flipped and punched her directly in her mouth.
She broke a bunch of her teeth.
That was when she knew it was officially over, and there’d be no going back.
