The release of the video showing former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee Janay Palmer has spread quickly on the Web. As a result, the football player was terminated by the Ravens, suspended by Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL indefinitely and both criticized and supported by several celebrities. Here are 10 Black celebrities who took to Twitter and other mediums to give their opinions about the video released by TMZ:
Ben Carson — “I’m hopeful they will get some help for him,” Carson said, in an inter with Newsmaxtv after being asked whether he agreed with the moves termination by the team and the suspension by the league. “I mean, obviously anyone who would do something like that needs some help.”
“And let’s not all jump on the bandwagon of demonizing this guy,” Carson continued. “He obviously has some real problems, and his wife obviously knows that, because she subsequently married him. So they both need some help. So rather than just jumping on a punitive bandwagon, let’s just see if we can get some help for these people.”
Floyd Mayweather — “I think there’s a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households. It’s just not caught on video, if that’s safe to say.”
“Like I’ve said in the past, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing,” Mayweather said about his alleged domestic abuse past. “With O.J. and Nicole, you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you seen pictures. With (Chad) Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who says she was kicked and beaten (by Mayweather).”
