One of the most prolific romances in country music history was between George Jones and Tammy Wynette. While the masses often view both these individuals as a pair, they had fascinating lives and decorated careers as individuals. Especially Tammy Wynette, as she had quite a tempestuous life after her divorce from George Jones in 1975.
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Wynette and Jones’ relationship and divorce were incredibly intense and incredibly public. In addition to the divorce, Wynette would go on to experience immense hardships throughout the rest of the 70s and her life. According to People, during a nine-month span in the 70s, intruders had broken into Wynette’s home 15 times. One of those times included the intruders writing “sl—t” and “pig” on her TVs and mirrors. Also, to top things off, a random woman reportedly tried to kidnap Wynette’s daughter, Tamala Georgette.
A week after the attempted kidnapping of Tamala Georgette, a masked man abducted Tammy Wynette. Regarding the harrowing moment, Wynette recalled, “I felt a poke in my side and heard a man’s voice say, ‘Drive!’ All I could see was a brown glove, a lot of hair on his arm, and two inches of gun barrel,” per People. Following that moment, the man reportedly beat Wynette and through her out of the car. A family then discovered her in their driveway. Nashville detectives called the abduction “very puzzling.”
The Responses and Alleged Truth to Tammy Wynette’s Abduction
After the news came to the surface, folks started speculating about the nature of the abduction. Particularly, folks believed the whole thing was a publicity stunt to rekindle her career. Which had taken a hit after not receiving a CMA nomination that year. Also, given that there was no viable evidence, people also started to point fingers at George Jones, who cryptically told People, “I think I know who is responsible for all this.”
No arrests were ever made, and that is because it was allegedly a lie, according to Jackie Daly, Wynette’s other daughter. In her book, Tammy Wynette: A Daughter Recalls Her Mother’s Tragic Life And Death, Jackie claimed that the kidnapping event was a cover-up for the abuse Wynette had been receiving from her husband at the time, George Richey.
Richey refuted this claim. Though, Tamala Georgette substantiated it by acknowledging the falsity of the abduction and the validity of the abuse in the book, The Three Of Us: Growing Up With Tammy And George.
She wrote, “[Tammy] did admit to my sister that when all that stuff came out about her being kidnapped in 1978 that she and Richey had had a fight and he had beaten her. He threatened to destroy her life and write a tell-all book, so she decided to stay with him […] So he concocted the kidnapping story for PR.” To this day, the truth behind Tammy Wynette’s abduction remains unclear.
Photo by Al Clayton/Getty Images
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