'He beat me and threatened to shoot me' – Diana Hopeson recounts ordeal in first marriage

Ghanaian gospel musician Diana Hopeson has opened up about the painful experiences she endured during her first marriage, including physical abuse and threats to her life.

Speaking in an interview with Kafui Dey, shared on August 23, 2026, the veteran gospel artiste recounted how her former husband subjected her to repeated abuse during periods she described as crises.

According to Diana Hopeson, she initially struggled to understand what was happening and continued forgiving her former husband, only for the abuse to persist.

“There was a light bulb moment, but that came after I had to sit down and analyse everything. A person will be there, then the crisis will come and hit the top, then the world will just come down calm,” she said.

She explained that her former husband would go through periods of crisis, during which his behaviour became extreme.

“In his wild stage, everything was excess and unfortunately, the abuse too was too much. He hit me and I don’t wish anyone to go through this,” she recounted.

Diana mentioned that she later came to understand that her former husband was dealing with an illness, but that realisation did not make the abuse any easier to endure.

“Come to think of it, to realise that the person was sick. If you don’t know that it was a crisis, all sorts of things go through your mind and you have to now forgive the person for what he had done,” she explained.

She stated that the cycle of abuse and forgiveness continued until it began taking a serious toll on her own well-being.

“You will keep forgiving and it will keep happening. It got to a point where I started dying myself because I had become numb,” she shared.

Although she found comfort through prayer, Diana acknowledged that she also needed help beyond her faith.

“I was carrying everything to God in prayer and that gave me so much relief, but still, you need help outside. God comforted me and I’m okay, but what about the people that it’s extending to? I had to do something about it,” she said.

The gospel musician disclosed that she eventually reported the situation to the head office of her church, where she sought assistance.

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“At a point, I had to go to the head office of the church and let them know what was happening. A lot of people helped here and there, but since we had not found the root, we couldn’t know where to put the blame,” she recounted.

Diana noted that the situation escalated when she began receiving death threats.

She revealed that her former husband threatened to obtain a gun and kill both of them.

“I got death threats too and that’s when I decided to run for my life. He said he was going to get a gun, shoot me and shoot himself and that will be it,” she stated.

According to Diana, she became increasingly concerned when she realised that he appeared to be making arrangements to obtain a firearm.

“I realised he was making arrangements for the gun. He went to the barracks; his stepfather used to be a soldier so he knew people there. He told me that he called someone and he’s asking for the gun,” she disclosed.

She further shared that her former husband had previously made threats that left her fearing for her life.

Diana recalled one particular incident when they were travelling in a car and her former husband threatened to crash into a truck after accusing her of smiling at people at a theatre.

“I remember there was a time when we were in a car he was driving and there was a big truck in front of us. He said I was smiling with people at the theatre so he would crash the car with the big truck,” she recounted.

She also described another incident in which she was physically assaulted and had to hide inside an inbuilt wardrobe in their home.

“The next time he beat me, I didn’t have anywhere to hide so I had to run and hide in an inbuilt wardrobe we had. He removed his belt and whipped me. I was bleeding in my mouth, so I managed to run from there and decided never to go back,” she added.

“He said he was going to get a gvn, sh00t me, and then sh00t himself.”

Diana Hopeson opens up about the painful challenges she faced in her first marriage.

Watch full interview here https://t.co/LkHsJ5zNs4 #KafuiDeyInterviews pic.twitter.com/Anb9ye3yoU

— Kafui Dey (@KafuiDey) August 23, 2026