photographer NELSON CASTILLO @nelsonncastillo
photographer’s assistant JHENDI @jhendi
groomer TIM MACKAY @timmackaybeauty
stylist BRANDON GARR @brandonmgarr
video AUSTIN NUNES @austinunes
producer STEVIE WILLIAMS @beingstevie of X2 Production
Why was Chasten Buttigieg DMing my husband? Oh right, he’s married to the transportation boss, I remembered at the time. Chasten’s message came in April 2022, after a man nearly assaulted my husband, my two children (then aged 5 and 6), and myself on an Amtrak train near San Jose, screaming — in front of all of us and half a dozen passengers — that we were groomers who stole these kids to rape them. After Amtrak personnel finally intervened and told the man to leave the train, he refused, saying he would die before getting off. Forty-five agonizing minutes later, a phalanx of Santa Clara County cops wielding pointed guns removed him from the train, and then let him walk into the night. The train took off two minutes later, speeding towards Oakland as we tried to calm our inconsolable children.
My husband tweeted about the incident and it went viral. Chasten saw the tweet and reached out, expressing his outrage and asking my husband how he could help. Returning to Los Angeles a
