"No Laughing Matter"

Steve Harvey recently spoke to “Essence” about the Rihanna and Chris Brown situation; here is what he had to say.

ESSENCE.COM: Well, men should always be there to support and uphold a sister, not tear her down. Speaking of which, you’ve been extremely vocal about the Rihanna and Chris Brown debacle on your syndicated radio show. If you could say anything to Chris Brown, what would you say?

HARVEY: First to Chris, any young man or my sons, I’d say there is no reason to ever put your hands on a woman. Unless you’re defending yourself because your life is in jeopardy—like a guy who called my show and told me his girl stabbed him, then okay, I believe you have a right to defend yourself if you’re under attack that could possibly be fatal.

ESSENCE.COM: Court documents allege Rihanna began hitting Chris Brown first while he was driving, so some might argue that his life was in jeopardy and he could have lost control of the car. Do you think he had a right to defend himself if this is indeed true?

HARVEY: It’s not right for a woman to ever put her hands on a man either, because that way she doesn’t provoke him. But I tell my daughters all the time, “Everybody don’t have a daddy like me.” The first day I meet any young man or boy who dates one of my three daughters (my twins are 26 and I have one who attends Spelman who is 21) I tell them: “You can talk to my daughter, yell at her, break up with her, have a falling out with her, tell her you never want to see her again, but if you ever put your hands on her I’m putting my hands on you and you’re not going to win and you better be looking over your shoulder because there’s not a place in this g*#damn country where you could hide. I really don’t understand how Rihanna's father can respond the way he has, because if you touch one of my daughters, I’m whooping you’re a--, period.

To read the interview in its entirety, visit www.essence.com.