Love Is Blind contestant Brennon Lemieux was accused of hitting his ex-girlfriend and knocking her unconscious during a fight just a few months before he began shooting Season 3 of the Netflix dating show.
According to a Dallas police report, Lemieux, 32, had been dating his ex-girlfriend for three months when they got into a fight at an undisclosed location on Jan. 27, 2021. They were both drinking and “having a good time” before they got into an argument and he asked her to leave, police say.
The alleged victim’s name appears redacted in the official police report, which has been posted on Reddit and recently attracted significant attention on TikTok. The Daily Beast confirmed the authenticity of the report with the Dallas Police Department.
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After the woman refused to leave, Lemieux allegedly became “more upset,” grabbed her by the arms, and threw her against a wall, causing her to “strike her head on the wall” and knocking her “unconscious for a brief moment.” When she woke up, Lemieux was allegedly hitting her with both hands, pushing, and scratching her.
A grand jury declined to indict Lemieux on one count of aggravated assault causing severe bodily injury on April 28 of this year, according to county court records. The charge, a second-degree felony, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of at least two years in prison.
A representative for Netflix emphasized that the charges against Lemieux were dropped, but declined to provide an on-the-record statement.
Police say Lemieux’s ex slept on the couch after the fight until she felt well enough to drive home, where she told her mother what happened. Her mom drove her to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and other bruising.
Officers noted that they saw bruising on the back of her left arm as well as scratches on her wrist. It’s unclear if Lemieux was arrested at the time of the incident, with the police report noting that the reality TV contestant simply signed a “family violence affidavit.”
Lemieux and his attorney in the case, Nelson Knight, did not immediately respond to requests for comment from The Daily Beast.
County court records show Lemieux posted a $5,000 bond on May 4, 2021, which would’ve been just a few weeks before Love Is Blind Season 3 began filming that summer, according to various press reports about the show.
During his time on Love Is Blind, Lemieux raised eyebrows when he became the first person to propose after just one date with fellow contestant Alexa Alfia. He and Alfia got married on the show’s finale and were still together as of the Season 3 reunion episode, which aired on Nov. 9.
This is just the latest scandal to rock the hugely popular series. Just last month, a psychologist writing for Psychology Today accused the show’s hosts and contestants of enabling abuse of contestant Colleen Reed. Reed’s partner on the show, Matt Bolton, became aggressive and threatened to leave Reed after she was seen flirting with another contestant.
“Not only do people not defend Colleen and reprimand Matt, they do the opposite: They hold Colleen accountable for crossing a line with Cole but do not see any problem with Matt's behavior,” Isabelle Morley wrote in Psychology Today.
Morley said the season’s reunion episode wasn’t any better, claiming that it put Reed in the “line of fire” for more blame by focusing on her actions.
“Not only do they let Matt get away with abusive, inappropriate, and unacceptable behavior, but they also put Colleen at risk for more abuse.”
And earlier this year, former Love Is Blind contestant Jeremy Hartwell sued Netflix, production company Kinetic Content, and casting company Delirium TV, claiming that the show’s producers deprived contestants of adequate food and sleep and plied them with alcohol while filming. (The case is ongoing.)
“The only drinks that defendants regularly provided to the cast were alcoholic beverages, soft drinks, energy drinks and mixers. Hydrating drinks such as water were strictly limited to the cast during the day,” the lawsuit states. “The combination of sleep deprivation, isolation, lack of food, and an excess of alcohol all either required, enabled or encouraged by defendants contributed to inhumane working conditions and altered mental state for the cast.”
