"Don't be surprised if you hit a man and he hits you back."

This debatable comment was shared by Whoopi Goldberg on "The View" as she defended ESPN's Stephen A. Smith's opinion regarding the controversy surrounding NFL player Ray Rice and his wife.

Ray Rice had allegedly hit his then-fiancé after she attacked him. Rice was suspended after being indicted on third-degree aggravated assault. Smith, on the other hand, got suspended for a week after saying that women shouldn't provoke men in order to avoid getting attacked.

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Goldberg then defended Smith on "The View", composed of an all-woman panel which included Jenny McCarthy and Sunny Hostin.

"'I know I'm gonna catch a lot of hell, but I don't care," Goldberg stated.

It was four against one as Goldberg defended Smith.

Goldberg proceeded to say that Rice's wife admitted to hitting the athlete before the assault and, that Smith was referring to that incident when he made his statement.

She goes on to say that you have to expect that if you hit someone, you will get hit back. Women, according to Goldberg, also have to learn not to put their hands on anyone. The idea of chivalry is dated and women shouldn't assume that it is still a concept that men hold on to.

Goldberg says that if a physically smaller woman attacks a much bigger man and she's "the last thing he wants to deal with that day", she should expect that provoking him might lead to a probable retaliation.

Guest host Sunny Hostin rebutted, "I've tried a lot of domestic violence cases. Men cannot hit women. Period. Ever."

McCarthy also argued, "There's no circumstance to hit a girl unless your life is in danger."

Hostin accused Goldberg of blaming the victim in the Rice case, to which an exasperated Goldberg replied, "Oh, my God, that is not blame the victim! I just said, don't anybody hit anybody."

TagsWhoopi Goldberg, Defends, Smith, ray rice, Assault