The chaos in Virginia politics just keeps getting wilder. Susanna Gibson Payne — the disgraced Democrat who made national headlines last year for livestreaming sex acts for money during her campaign — has been arrested on domestic abuse charges tied to a messy divorce battle with her estranged husband.
According to Henrico County police records, Payne, 42, was arrested on **September 22** and charged with *assault and battery of a family member.* The case reportedly stems from a domestic incident involving her soon-to-be ex-husband, **John David Gibson**, a 44-year-old attorney. Payne, unsurprisingly, insists she’s the victim and that her husband fabricated the complaint as “retaliation.”
In comments to the *New York Post*, Payne tried to spin the story, claiming she was acting in self-defense during a heated custody exchange.
“After my estranged husband — arrested three times since I filed for divorce — assaulted me during a June 2025 custody exchange while I protected our son, he filed a retaliatory criminal complaint against me,” she said.
Despite the serious nature of the charge, Payne downplayed her arrest, claiming she turned herself in as soon as she was notified.
“More than three months later, police issued a misdemeanor warrant for my arrest. I turned myself in immediately,” she said, portraying herself as the victim of an unjust system.
But this latest chapter in the Payne saga only adds to her long trail of controversy. During her failed 2023 campaign for Virginia’s House of Delegates, Payne became infamous after it was revealed that she **performed live sex acts online for tips** with her husband. The shocking revelation torpedoed her campaign in the final stretch, costing her the race by fewer than 1,000 votes in a key suburban Richmond district.
Instead of taking responsibility, Payne blamed Republicans for exposing the scandal, calling it a “sex crime” and accusing conservatives of trying to silence her.
“My political opponents and their Republican allies have proven they’re willing to commit a sex crime to attack me and my family because there’s no line they won’t cross to silence women when they speak up,” she claimed at the time.
Even after the public rejected her, Payne continued to paint herself as the victim of a political witch hunt. Speaking to *Politico* after her loss, she said,
“A political operative found sexually explicit videos of a young woman running for office … and shopped them around to various news outlets to humiliate, intimidate, and harass this woman.”
Now, facing a domestic assault charge, Payne is once again pointing the finger at others — this time, at her own husband. Her statement to the *Post* framed herself as a “domestic violence survivor” and accused the justice system of being manipulated by abusers.
“Survivors deserve a justice system that recognizes abuse dynamics and protects our safety,” she said, “not one that allows abusers to weaponize the law.”
But to many observers in Virginia, the pattern is clear: when caught in scandal, Payne plays the victim. Whether it’s livestreaming for cash or facing criminal charges, she’s always quick to blame conservatives, men, or “the system.”
In a state still split between red and blue, Payne’s ongoing drama serves as yet another reminder of what happens when Democrats’ personal chaos spills into public life — and how the party of “morality and inclusion” keeps finding itself knee-deep in scandal.
