Fox Host Who Joked About Alleged Rice Vid: We Didn’t Take It ‘Lightly’ (VIDEO)

Brian Kilmeade assures "Fox & Friends" viewers that the hosts take domestic violence seriously.
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“Fox & Friends” host Brian Kilmeade on Tuesday assured viewers that he and his co-hosts take domestic violence seriously, but did not apologize for joking about a disturbing new video that showed NFL star Ray Rice punching his then-fiancee in an elevator.

“Comments we made during this story yesterday made some feel like we were taking the situation too lightly,” Kilmeade said. “We are not. We were not.”

TMZ had released extended surveillance video Monday that appeared to show the Baltimore Ravens running back knocking out Janay Palmer, who is now his wife, earlier this year in an Atlantic City hotel elevator. Previous footage showed just the aftermath of the altercation, which originally earned Rice a two-game suspension. Rice was cut from the Ravens and suspended indefinitely by the NFL late Monday.

On Monday’s show, Kilmeade and co-host Steve Doocy had compared Rice and Palmer’s relationship to that of singers Rihanna and Chris Brown. They also compared the alleged Rice footage to a now-infamous video of pop star Beyonce’s sister throwing punches at Beyonce’s husband, Jay Z, in an elevator.

“The message is, take the stairs,” Kilmeade joked.

Kilmeade didn’t apologize for the quip Tuesday morning, however.

“Domestic abuse is a very serious issue to us, I can assure you,” he said.

Watch below:

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