New Details About The Violent Marriage Between White Nationalist Richard Spencer And His Estranged Russian Wife
He allegedly told her to kill herself on many occasions.
IMDb / Instagram The violent political life led by white nationalist Richard Spencer, who claims to have coined the term "alt-right," followed him home and affected his marriage, his wife said in divorce filings.
Spencer and wife Nina Kouprianova are divorcing and his unrestrained aggression is to blame. Kouprianova claims her husband's “controversial public life” has led to “his entire family” becoming targets of violence. “Despite the risk to his family, [Spencer] continues to engage in extremely polarizing public speech advocating ‘peaceful ethnic cleansing’ and a white-only ‘ethno-state’ which tends to invite passions and violence," she alleges.
The pair met on Facebook in 2009 and married the next year in Niagara Falls. They held a larger wedding ceremony in January 2011 in Whitefish, Montana, where they lived.
Kouprianova said she experienced abuse at the hands of her husband just days before the Whitefish ceremony, she recalled in an interview with Huffington Post. She came down with a stomach bug and was laying in bed when Spencer demanded she watch a James Bond movie with him. When she refused, dragged her down the stairs by her hair and legs and forced her to watch the film, she said.
He later emailed her to ask if she arrived home "safely," according to the affidavit included with the divorce filing.
“Yeah,” she replied, “apart from seeing the bruises on my wrists and knees from yesterday’s adventure down your staircase that you sent me on, the trip back went without major incident.”
Yet she went through with the ceremony, telling herself it was a one-time thing that surely wouldn't happen again. It only got worse.
The 78-page affidavit, which Spencer and Kouprianove's lawyer unsuccessfully tried to seal three times, details years of verbal and physical abuse.
Spencer pushed her into a stove while she was pregnant. He told her to kill herself on multiple occasions. He tried to punch her in the face. The list goes on, and the filing includes screenshots of text messages to back up Kouprianova's claims.
"I hope you kill yourself. I would actually respect that," one text from Spencer reads.
Another says, "You are a disgusting c***."
"The fact that you're in your mid-30s and you're still this pathetic means you'll never change... so again, suicide seems to be your best option," a text says.
He once held Kouprianova "down on the ground smashing my head into the floor."
“I remember feeling ashamed that the neighbors might hear what’s going on," she said.
Spencer threatened to break her nose one time, Kouprianova alleged. He yelled at their babysitter and a barista. She was embarrassed by his behavior but was scared to report him out of fear of his retaliation. The abuse even happened in front of their two children, Kouprianova claims.
Spencer denied ever laying a hand on her wife in an abusive manner but coughed up to his ruthless word choices during screaming matches.
“I get frustrated,” he says. “She makes me frustrated. It's tough talk, words said in anger. There is a red line between actually doing something."
The president of white nationalist think tank the National Policy Institute told the Huffington Post that people just don't understand their relationship. In a separate, 45-page affidavit, Spencer countered Kouprianova's claims and alleges she is using their children against him.
“None of the allegations of ‘abuse’ have anything to do with my children," the documents read, adding that Kouprianova “obviously and litigiously tries to rope the children into our dispute by saying they were in the room next door or they overheard abusive talk.”
Spencer and Kpuprianova separated in 2016 and things between them have been rough. Kouprianova claims she only receives $550 a month for child support and no alimony. She lives in an apartment in Whitefish with her children, whom Spencer is only allowed supervised visits with. Soon, he will be allowed unsupervised visitation rights, which Kouprianova expressed concern over.
She lives on edge, hoping not to run into Spencer.
Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.