Nev Schulman tweets about Ray Rice but has also punched a woman

After dissemination of the infamous Ray Rice video in which the former Ravens running back is seen punching and knocking out his now-wife Janay Rice, celebrities from all arenas have spoken out for and against Rice.

One such celebrity is "Catfish" host Nev Schulman. Schulman tweeted an undeniably corny picture of himself in an elevator, a paper bag and water bottle used to keep the door from shutting him inside, with his hand over his heart. Along with the image, Schulman expressed how he felt about the Ray Rice situation, saying, "Cowards make me sick. Real men show strength through practice & honor. This elevator is abuse free. #RESPECT."

Was it a tasteless, ill-timed, insensitive joke, or a serious attempt at a poorly executed stand in solidarity with abuse victims? Who can say? The post has since been deleted and, sadly, the world may never know.

Because of his tweet, Schulman has invited some apparently unexpected criticism. Primarily, people have dug up an account, rumored and then recounted in his book, In Real Life: Love, Lies & Identity in the Digital Age, that Schulman was expelled from Sarah Lawrence College for, gasp!, punching a woman in the face. Schulman was arrested for the altercation but charges were later dropped.

Competing accounts cast Schulman in different lights. Alleged witnesses say he knew he was punching a woman who was upset he was photographing a kiss between her and her girlfriend. Schulman's account says he was attacked and did not know it was a woman that he hit until after the fight.

Does this make Schulman the ideal candidate for speaking out against domestic abuse? Maybe not.

Schulman was expelled during his junior year of college, meaning he was probably about 21 years old. Today, he's 29. The fact that Schulman maintains he didn't know he was hitting a woman is definitely a perspective to consider. But, nonetheless, he's gone on to host a hit, albeit slightly cruel, show on MTV. His life wasn't over after he punched a woman.

Reps for the TV host released a statement from Schulman in which he insists he acted in self-defense.

Alleged former Sarah Lawrence students have spoken out about Schulman long before his elevator tweet.

A 2013 Tumblr post written by a former student says this of the punching incident:

"from my recollection, there was a party or something going on, and the woman was making out with her girlfriend, when Nev walks up and WITHOUT PERMISSION BEGINS TAKING PICTURE OF THEM. she asks him to stop, things quickly escalate, i think maybe she might have tried grabbing at the camera, which is a perfectly understandable thing to do when you're at a college party and some person unknown to you walks up and starts taking pictures of you and your partner sharing an intimate moment together, again, WITHOUT PERMISSION…..and he ends up punching her in the face."

The former student goes on to say Schulman's mom was on the school board of trustees and that has something to do with his lack of punishment.

Ultimately, when Schulman punched a woman, it wasn't caught on tape and disseminated by mass media. Why he thought he could take such a staunch public stance on such an issue despite his murky, woman-hitting past, the world may never know.

[Gawker]