Don McLean on Domestic Violence Arrest: ‘I Am Not a Villain’
Don McLean‘s wife was granted a temporary order of protection against the “American Pie” singer Thursday following an alleged domestic violence incident at their Maine home early Sunday morning. In documents filed to the Rockland District Court, Patricia McLean accused her husband of having “a violent temper” and physically and verbally abusing her for over three decades, ABC News reports.
“For the first 10 years or so his rage was unfathomably deep and very scary,” she wrote in a statement attached to the protection order. “On January 17th, Don terrorized me for four hours until the 911 call that I think might have saved my life.”
McLean was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault following the incident. The singer bailed out Sunday and was ordered back in court on February 22nd. He did not enter a plea. On Thursday, the singer-songwriter released his “statement on recent events” in a series of tweets, telling fans that he is “not a villain.”
“This last year and especially now have been hard, emotional times for my wife, my children and me. What is occurring is the very painful breakdown of an almost 30-year relationship,” McLean tweeted. “Our hearts are broken and we must carry on. There are no winners or losers but I am not a villain. I may never recover from this but I will try and hope to continue to entertain you all as I always have. I ask God to give us the strength to find new happiness and I hope people will realize that this will all be resolved but I hope I will not be judged in this frantic media environment.”
In 2015, McLean auctioned off the original 16-page manuscript to his classic “American Pie” for $1.2 million. “I’m going to be 70 this year,” McLean told Rolling Stone prior to the Christie’s auction. “I have two children and a wife, and none of them seem to have the mercantile instinct. I want to get the best deal that I can for them. It’s time.”