Viral Dress Man Proves Men Can Ruin Anything

Remember that dress that had the internet all fighting over what color it was? Was it black and blue or white and gold? Well, bad news about one of the people behind the photo: He has confessed to strangling his wife, proving that nothing good in this world is ever safe from men.

**Content warning: mentions of abuse within.**

Keir Johnston, who was the one getting married when the infamous dress was worn, confessed to abusing his wife, Grace Johnston, including strangling her and threatening to kill her. According to The Guardian, Johnston admitted to endangering his wife’s life, even saying to her at one point, “Someone is going to die.”

Chris Macintosh, the prosecutor in the case, stated that Grace Johnston feared for her life while married to Keir Johnston given where they lived on the Isle of Colonsay. “There is no permanent police presence on the island, and she was in a situation where she felt trapped.”

Everything came to a head when Grace Johnston went against her husband’s demands and went to a job interview despite him telling her not to. He then went to a pub, got drunk, and texted her, saying, “You should support me but you do not.” Johnston said that he was going to leave his wife, and when she tried to fight for their marriage, he pinned her to the ground and began strangling her. He has since not contested what he did was violent and admitted to his crimes against Grace Johnston.

The news shocked the internet when they went from joking about this dress (still, nearly 10 years later) to learning what Johnston did.

Gone are the dress jokes

Back in 2015, Caitlin McNeill posted a picture of Grace Johnston’s mother’s dress—for the couple’s wedding—to Tumblr, asking what colors people saw. Was it black and blue or white and gold? (I saw blue and gold, but alas.)

It became such a widely discussed topic that the family even ended up on The Ellen Show to talk about the “dress that broke the internet.”

While it was less about Keir Johnston and more about Caitlin McNeill’s post and Grace Johnston’s mother, it’s still upsetting to see this situation happen to anyone. Grace Johnston having to live in fear of her own husband and being told she can’t do something by him is horrifying. We hope that Grace Johnston finds her happiness away from Keir Johnston.