Janay Rice Speaks Out For the First Time

Much has been said about Janay Rice in the months since her video of her violent encounter with her husband made headlines, but, until now, we've yet to hear rom her.

Janay recently sat down with ESPN's Jemele Hill for an interview that Hill transcribed into an essay.

The argument that led Ray to get physial:
“As we were arguing, he was on his phone and not looking at me. I went to reach for his phone, and when he grabbed it back, he spit at me and I slapped him.”

On Apologizing for Her Role in the Incident at Ravens News Conference:
“I know some people disagreed with me publicly apologizing. I’m not saying that what Ray did wasn’t wrong. He and I both know it was wrong. It’s been made clear to him that it was wrong. But at the same time, who am I to put my hands on somebody? “

On What Ray Was Thinking After He Hit Her:
“I asked him how he felt when he saw that I was unconscious. He told me he was in shock. I asked him what happened when we got out of the elevator. He told me he was terrified because security was there. I asked him how he felt seeing me like that. He said he was thinking, “What did I just do?” I didn’t watch the video again.”

On What Ray and Janay told Roger Goodell:
“Ray told the commissioner, and his colleagues, everything that happened. There was no reason to lie because we knew that there was a video and we assumed the NFL knew what was in it, even though we didn’t know whether or not they saw it.

On Anger at Baltimore Ravens for Cutting Ray:
“I was extremely surprised and angry that the Ravens released him, because they know him. They were our family, but I felt like the Ravens completely disregarded the past six years with him. Anytime the Ravens needed someone for a community event, Ray was their man.

On Being a Martyr for Domestic Violence:
“If it took our situation becoming headline news to show domestic violence is happening in this country, that’s a positive.”

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Kimberly Foster is the founder and editor of For Harriet. Email or Follow @KimberlyNFoster

domestic violence Janay Rice