Janay Rice's Mother Reacts to Ray Rice Assault: 'It's Been the Hardest Thing I've Ever Had to Go Through in My Life'
Janay Rice has spoken out about the infamous assault at the hands of her NFL free agent husband Ray Rice, and now her mother is publicly speaking about her daughter becoming a face of domestic violence.
Rice, 29, was previously suspended indefinitely from the NFL when a video surfaced of him knocking his now-wife Janay Rice unconscious. However, that suspension was officially lifted Friday when Rice won his appeal.
Janay and her mother Candy Palmer spoke to journalist Matt Lauer of "The Today Show" about the impact of being assaulted by her husband. In the video of the assault, Ray is seen standing over his now wife after knocking her unconscious.
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While Janay also questioned her husband's actions, she said Ray explained that he was in shock before security and police came to step into the situation. However, Janay's mother admitted that the image upset her.
"I was very upset by that part and I told him so. I basically told him that I didn't care who was out there at the elevator," Palmer said on "Today." "'You should have never left her there like that.' I did tell him that."
Palmer admitted that it was hard to watch her daughter go through a tough time where people were judging her in the media.
"It's been the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my life, to watch my daughter be trashed and to see what happened to her be all over national television," Palmer told "Today." "Everyone talking about her, everyone making statements about her, and they know nothing about her. What were we going to do? You can't fight everyone."
While Palmer admitted she did not initially want to watch the video that went viral, she explained why she had to.
"I didn't want to see it at first, and it took me a while but I did because I had to," Palmer said on "Today." "That's my child and if something happened to her, I don't care what it is, I want to see it."
After the turbulent events that took place in her life and played out in the media, Janay insisted the couple has grown closer to God.
"I have grown closer to God. My faith has gotten me through each day," she told ESPN. "It's been hard accepting the fact that God chose us for this, but at the same time it's put us in the position to help others. If it took our situation becoming headline news to show domestic violence is happening in this country, that's a positive."
