ESPN embraces debate and now the network is in a heap of hot water after Stephen A. Smith made some comments on video on the show "First Take" about the Ray Rice domestic violence situation and he appeared to say that women also bear some responsibility at provoking violence and he was roundly criticized, including on Twitter from ESPN's Michelle Beadle.

The whole situation is a mess for ESPN and this is what they get for stoking debate constantly and on top of that, this also sheds more light on what the NFL did. The NFL suspended Ray Rice for two games for domestic violence and many critiqued them for that as well. Either way, this situation is a bad mark for ESPN and Smith, who has said controversial things in the past but is not looked at as a "bad guy" and he tried to defend himself on Twitter after that.

Smith almost looks worse doing that after what he said and now ESPN and their PR army likely will tackle this hardcore.

Check out the video for yourselves and see what you think and here is a link to Smith's twitter and Beadle's.