--- description: Before a spare performance of "By the Grace of God," Katy Perry invited activist Brooke Axtell to share her story title: Grammys 2015: Brooke Axtell With Katy Perry in Domestic Violence Clip image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb226352d483f5610/69877e315f570f4dafb15289/brooke-axtell2.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Living](/tag/time-section-living/) ## Living Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Meet Brooke Axtell, the Domestic Violence Survivor Who Performed With Katy Perry at the Grammys  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Feb 9, 2015 3:07 AM CUT  Brooke Axtell speaks at the 57th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, in Los Angeles. Brooke Axtell speaks at the 57th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, in Los Angeles.John Sheare—Invision/AP  by [Eliana Dockterman](/author/eliana-dockterman/)  ## Eliana Dockterman Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Correspondent Feb 9, 2015 3:07 AM CUT During Sunday’s Grammys, President Obama encouraged Americans to take personal responsibility to stop domestic violence and sexual assault as part of the White House’s ongoing ‘It’s On Us’ campaign. After his video aired, a woman named Brooke Axtell went on to share her personal story of domestic violence. Axtell, an Austin-based writer, activist and performance artist, is the director of communications for Allies Against Slavery, a nonprofit that fights human trafficking. Before a performance by Katy Perry, Axtell told her story of abuse: Her partner became increasingly violent and eventually threatened to kill her, before Axtell told her mother about the incident and sought help. According to an [interview](http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/02/08/brooke%5Faxtell%5Finterview%5Fmeet%5Fthe%5Fdomestic%5Fabuse%5Fsurvivor%5Fwho%5Fis%5Fperforming.html?wpsrc=fol%5Ftw "undefined") with Slate, Axtell herself was trafficked by her nanny at a young age before entering the abusive relationship in her adult life. “Authentic love does not devalue another human being,” she said at the Grammys. “Authentic love does not silence shame and abuse.” ### Grammys 2015: Red Carpet Photos  Taylor Swift attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Lady Gaga attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Kim Kardashian and Kanye West attend the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Lester Cohen—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Rihanna attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Katy Perry attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Rita Ora attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  John Mayer attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Sia attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Kevin Mazur—WireImage  Gwen Stefani attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Madonna attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jason Merritt—Getty Images  Ed Sheeran attends the 57th annual GRAMMY Awards at the STAPLES Center on February 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Lester Cohen—WireImage/Getty Images  Meghan Trainor attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Ariana Grande attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Nick Jonas attends attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Kat Graham attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Steve Granitz—WireImage/Getty Images  Anna Kendrick attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Iggy Azalea attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Larry Busacca—Getty Images  Pharrell Williams attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles. Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images  Charli XCX attends the 57th Annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 8, 2015 in Los Angeles, Calif. Jeff Vespa—WireImage/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3700400/grammys-2015-brooke-axtell-katy-perry/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3700400/grammys-2015-brooke-axtell-katy-perry/"},"headline":"Meet Brooke Axtell, the Domestic Violence Survivor Who Performed With Katy Perry at the Grammys","datePublished":"2015-02-09T03:07:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:42:40.523Z","description":"Before a spare performance of \"By the Grace of God,\" Katy Perry invited activist Brooke Axtell to share her story","url":"https://time.com/3700400/grammys-2015-brooke-axtell-katy-perry/","keywords":["Living","Sexual Assault","grammys"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb226352d483f5610/69877e315f570f4dafb15289/brooke-axtell2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eliana Dockterman","jobTitle":"Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/eliana-dockterman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb226352d483f5610/69877e315f570f4dafb15289/brooke-axtell2.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Brooke Axtell","caption":"Brooke Axtell","creditText":"John Sheare—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3700400/grammys-2015-brooke-axtell-katy-perry/","name":"Meet Brooke Axtell, the Domestic Violence Survivor Who Performed With Katy Perry at the Grammys"}}]}] ```