Season 18 of “The View” returned with a debate over NFL star Ray Rice and the video of him striking his now wife, Janay.
New host Rosie Perez put it bluntly: “He cold-cocked her.” Perez went on to suggest that since Rice hit her so casually, it may not be the first time he’s abused Janay.
Rosie O’Donnell spoke up with a slight defense as to why Rice might think such actions were warranted.
See video: ESPN’s Hannah Storm Speaks Out Emotionally on NFL’s Ray Rice Scandal (Video)
“I don’t excuse any violence towards anyone,” O’Donnell said, “but I do understand how a guy who knocks people over and pushes them down for a living and gets cheered might do that in his private life, even though it’s wrong.”
Returning host Whoopi Goldberg questioned why the NFL waited so long before they suspended Rice indefinitely.
“I don’t understand why they’re freaked out now,” Goldberg said. “When the incident happened, he never said he didn’t do it. Why is it worse now?”
Perez went on to question whether those who abuse their wives and girlfriends were abused as children.
“We shouldn’t just address the issue of men hitting these women,” Perez stated. “Who is hitting these men?”
Also read: Joy Behar on Upcoming Rosie O’Donnell Season: ‘The View’ Will Go for ‘Fireworks’
O’Donnell identified Chris Brown, who was convicted of assaulting his then girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, as a person who has admitted to growing up in a house where he was abused.
While O’Donnell is willing to offer some understanding towards those who hit their loved ones, she draws the line at Woody Allen. She told her fellow co-hosts that she has turned her back on the director and his work since the initial allegations surfaced that he abused his adopted daughter, Dylan Farrow.
Also read: Lena Dunham ‘Nauseated’ by Woody Allen, But ‘I’m Not Gonna Indict the Work’
“I haven’t seen a Woody Allen movie since the initial allegations came out,” O’Donnell said.
The conversation moved to Adrian Peterson and his indictment and arrest following charges that he hit his 4-year-old son with a switch. O’Donnell called it child abuse.
See video: Charles Barkley Defends NFL’s Adrian Peterson: ‘We Spank Kids in the South’ (Video)
Perez and Goldberg took a different stance.
“Sometimes time out doesn’t work,” said Perez.
Goldberg continued, “I wasn’t afraid of my mother but I knew that she wasn’t playing.”
Watch the first ‘Hot Topics’ segment of “The View” season 18 above.