Janay Rice, the wife of former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, who was suspended from the NFL indefinitely after a surveillance tape leaked in September showing him knocking her unconscious in an elevator, is finally speaking out.
In a multi-part interview with "Today" host Matt Lauer, Janay explained why she decided to stay with her husband after he assaulted her, admitting that her immediate response to the attack was to end the relationship.
"I was furious,'' she told Lauer. "We came home and we didn't talk the entire ride. He tried to talk to me. I didn't want to hear any of it. I just knew he hit me, and I was done. I just didn't even want to entertain it. Any explanation."
Janay, who appeared in the interview alongside her mother Candy Palmer, said she and her husband were aware that the footage would be released but were not prepared for the media backlash.
"When I saw that, it was horrible, you can't make excuses for anything, but we were highly intoxicated," she recalled after first seeing the video. "And in the moment you're not thinking about, 'Oh my god. I'm on camera in an elevator.' So of course people are going to read into everything and pick at everything about the situation. We understand that."
She remained by her husband's side, including supporting him during a press conference where he apologized to his team and fans for his actions - but did not apologize to his wife.
Janay, who admitted that she wanted to do anything to get her husband's career back on track, said the Ravens suggested that she apology for her involvement in the incident and also gave her a general script to work with.
"That was frustrating for me because obviously people took it as I'm taking light off of what Ray did, in no way," she said. "I was basically not doing what I was told, but at the same time I didn't think it was completely wrong for me to apologize because at the end of the day I got arrested, too. So I did something wrong, too."
Prior to the attack, Janay said Ray had never physically abused her, adding, "Ray knows me. And there's no way. He knows what he would have to deal with, you know, if this was something. You know, I'm not going to sit there in silence and let something happen to me - and God forbid, in front of my child, just like, let it happen? There's no way."
Ray won the appeal to overturn the indefinite NFL suspension, leaving him eligible to sign with any NFL team. Several NFL teams are currently looking into signing him, including the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints.
The mother and daughter said they have taken away "so many messages" from the incident. A teary-eyed Janay told Lauer that she and Ray are meant to be together and she is confident that he will not harm her again.
"I feel like God chose Ray and me for a reason," Janay said. "It was definitely bringing awareness to what more people are going through every day. Even though it's not what I'm going through every day, it's definitely brought this topic to the forefront. There is no next time, and we've already made that clear."
The second part of Janay's interview will air on Tuesday.
