The Charlotte Observer released 15 revealing excerpts from Ric and Charlotte Flair’s upcoming book, Second Nature: The Legacy of Ric Flair and the Rise of Charlotte.
Ric Flair describes the 2008 incident in Chapel Hill, North Carolina that led to the arrest of Charlotte, following a fight with then-boyfriend Riki Johnson, who she later married.
“Johnson yelled, ‘Your daughter–!’ and that’s all I had to hear,” Flair said. “My daughter did everything for this guy. He could barely hold a job. I got up and said, ‘Do you think you’re a man behaving this way? You’re not a man.’ Ashley’s boyfriend exploded in a fury and started throwing punches at me. I just stood there. …Police arrived, and all hell broke loose. …When one of the police officers entered her space and asked her to put her hands behind her back, I heard her say, ‘Don’t touch me. I said don’t touch me.’ The next thing I knew, the officer used a Taser to subdue her. She was brought to the floor and taken into police custody in handcuffs. Her boyfriend assaulted me, I had bruises on my face, and somehow my daughter, who tried to be the peacekeeper, was arrested.”
Charlotte talked about her rocky relationship with Riki Johnson, her first husband. She passed on a Division I volleyball scholarship at Appalachian State to live with Johnson, who was a student at UNC-Chapel Hill at the time.
“Riki was Jekyll and Hyde,” Charlotte said. “If he was happy, things were great; he was the man of my dreams. If he was angry, everyone knew it, and it would be taken out on someone or something.”
Charlotte also gave her perspective on the 2008 altercation in Chapel Hill and alleges there were multiple instances in which arguments led to him becoming physically violent with her.
“Riki started swinging at me like we were in a street fight. Over his screams, I could hear his fists hit my arms. I managed to block most of the punches, but one shot got me in the ribs. I began to gasp for air, but he didn’t stop,” Charlotte said. In another instance, “Riki punched me right in the head. …I think about that girl now, and it brings tears to my eyes. How did I get there? Why was this going on? Why wasn’t I strong enough, brave enough, to end this?”
Charlotte also mentioned Johnson was doing drugs with her brother, Reid (who later passed away in 2013 from a drug overdose), while Reid stayed at her home. Once Charlotte found out, her brother left.
“Every day, another piece of my heart broke over what had happened,” Charlotte admitted.
For more excerpts from the book, which will be released on September 19, click here.
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