Janay Rice: 'God chose me and Ray for a reason'

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Janay Rice refuses to watch the video of her then-fiancé Ray Rice assaulting her in a casino elevator.

The 26-year-old told NBC Today Show anchor Matt Lauer she has only viewed the first video which showed the former Ravens running back pulling her unconscious body out of the elevator.

“I’m not going to let the public bring me back there,” Rice said in the first of a two-part interview Monday.

Lauer asked Rice if there were any incidents of domestic abuse prior to the elevator fight:

No. Not at all. 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.

Janay married Ray in March, excatly one day after the NFL star was indicted on aggravated assault charges. In July, Rice was suspended for two games. Once the full video was released of what happened inside the elevator, he was released by the Ravens and suspended indefinitely.

Janay told Lauer she believes her and Ray were chosen by God to bring awareness to domestic violence.

The couple has a 2-year-old daughter named Raven. Lauer asked Janay if she was prepared for the day she will have to explain this incident to Raven:

I don’t think I’ll ever be prepared until that moment. But we’re gonna be honest with her. You know, we’re gonna tell her what happened. Let her know things like this are not okay. It’s not something that she should tolerate. You know, let her know that people make mistakes and it’s how you learn from them.

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