Watch Cyntoia Brown Give Her First Television Interview Since Being Released From Prison
Brown chats with NBC's Lester Holt about the attention her case received from celebrities, her marriage to J. Long and more.
In August, Cyntoia Brownwas released from prison after serving 15 years of a life sentence for killing a child predator who paid her for sex.
Now, she has given her first television interview since her release.
Brown sat down with NBC's Lester Holt to talk about everything from the attention her case received from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Rihanna to her marriage to J. Long.
"Suddenly people like Kim Kardashian are tweeting about you and raising this issue of clemency. Was there a part of you that was afraid of the attention?" Holt asks Brown.
"I was. I was so nervous and then I was like, 'I don't want the governor to think that I've done this. That I've tried to push his hand. That could backfire," she responds.
The pair also discusses Johnny Allen — the man she killed — and how his family felt like "the judicial system has failed again for victims everywhere," a comment made in a statement by Allen's family following news of Brown's release.
"No matter how this ended, you still killed a person. The fact that you were seen as a victim does that make Johnny Allen any less of a victim?" Holt asks.
"No, it doesn't. I can't sit here and say that I'm deserving of compassion and then sit here and say at the same time, 'Don't have any compassion for this person,'" she replies. "He is a victim."
The conversation then shifts to how brown and J. Long ended up getting to know each other, which led to them getting married while she was still in prison. Long had sent letters to Brown, with one telling her: "I believe the more your story gets heard, the more people will start praying for your freedom."
In related news, a documentary chronicling Brown's incarceration and fight for clemency is in the works.