TMZ has broken three big news stories in the past ten months. I have to admit that I watch the show when I’m at the gym. They’re not stupid.

I watched the elevator footage of Ray Rice and his wife several times. I also watched the press conferences and interviews, and I come out of all it feeling very sorry for Janay Rice. Of course, I feel bad that she took a blow to the face. I can’t unsee that video, even though I would very much like to erase it from my brain. I also feel sorry for her, because she has to relive the whole thing over and over. There’s something exploitive about the whole thing. Like naked pictures on the iCloud, it exposes her and her mistakes (she married the dude) to the world.

She wrote this on Instagram,

“I woke up this morning feeling like I had a horrible nightmare, feeling like I’m mourning the death of my closest friend,” Janay Rice wrote. “But to have to accept the fact that it’s reality is a nightmare in itself. No one knows the pain that [the] media & unwanted options from the public has caused my family. To make us relive a moment in our lives that we regret every day is a horrible thing. To take something away from the man I love that he has worked his ass [off] for all his life just to gain ratings is horrific.

“THIS IS OUR LIFE! What don’t you all get. If your intentions were to hurt us, embarrass us, make us feel alone, take all happiness away, you’ve succeeded on so many levels. Just know we will continue to grow & show the world what real love is! Ravensnation we love you!”

While I think TMZ is basically harmless and fun when covering the silliness of celebrities that put themselves in the limelight, I do feel that we’ve entered into dangerous territory. The wife of a football player needs some protection, not just from the press, but the public.