Aaron Hernandez's fiancée Shayanna Jenkins-Hernandez has spoken out about Netflix's three-part documentary titled Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez, which chronicles the late athlete's life from childhood to his 2013 arrest to his suicide in 2017.
In a sit-down interview with ABC News' Amy Robach that aired on Wednesday (January 29) on Good Morning America, Shayanna opened about the questions surrounding Aaron's sexuality, which were discussed at length in the documentary.
“You can’t describe someone’s sexuality without them being here,” she said. “Although I have had a child with Aaron, I still can’t tell you what he was feeling inside, no one can.” In tears, Shayanna continued, “If he did feel that way, or if he felt the urge, I wish that I was told. I wish that he would have told me because I would not have loved him any differently. I would have understood.”
“It’s not shameful and I don’t think any should feel shameful on who they are inside regardless of who they love,” the mother-of-two added. “I think it’s a beautiful thing. I just wish I was able to tell him that."
Since its release,Killer Inside: The Mind of Aaron Hernandez has received backlash from those closest to the former New England Patriots tight end. While it provides new details about Aaron's legal cases — he was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd in 2013 and as he awaited trial, he was charged with the fatal drive-by shootings of Daniel Jorge Correia de Abreu and Safiro Teixeira Furtado— it also implies that Aaron was in the closet, agonizing over his sexuality.
Aaron's lawyer Jose Baez, who repped the late athlete and helped him beat his double murder case, appeared in the documentary. However, after its release, the attorney posted a scathing Instagram post, slamming the producers for their allegedly untruthful documentary. "I don’t give a da*n about what some lame a** documentary has to say about Aaron. I knew him, they did not and while he was far from perfect, they are not even close to the truth," he wrote. "People have no idea how documentaries are made, the truth is usually found on the cutting room floor. These producers lied directly to my face, so I don’t expect their money making scheme to be much better. #ripchico #baezlawfirm #aaronhernandez."
Earlier this month, Shayanna appeared to address the docuseries on Instagram. "I wanted to let all of you sweet sweet souls know I have tried to read every message sent on IG and through email (positive and negative),” she wrote. “The amount of support and positive energy is again unreal! I’m sure you will all understand how imperative it is to take some time away from social media.” Shayanna additionally captioned the post "#stayhumble😘."
The day prior, on the date of the documentary's release (January 15), she shared an inspirational quote. “Never forget how far you’ve come,” the quote read. “Everything you have gotten through. All the times you have pushed on even when you felt you couldn’t. All the mornings you got out of bed no matter how hard it was. All the times you wanted to give up but you got through another day. Never forget how much strength you have developed along the way.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go tosuicidepreventionlifeline.org.