TMZ: The NFL Never Asked Casino For The Tape

Monday evening, TMZ producer Harvey Levin said that he believed the NFL knew about the tape but "turned a blind eye" to it.

Another TMZ employee, Charles Latibeaudiere, went on Fox Sports 1 on Monday night claiming that someone from the NFL had gone to the casino to watch the video.

On Tuesday morning, TMZ published a report saying that the NFL never even asked the casino in Atlantic City for the security tape from the elevator.

From the report:

"Sources who worked at the casino at the time of the incident tell us ... if the NFL had asked for the video, they would have gladly complied.

"Without video ... Goodell blindly justified the initial 2-game suspension, based on the only evidence they had -- from the two people in the elevator, who called it mutual combat.

"Multiple sources tell TMZ Sports ...  the casino made a copy of the elevator surveillance video for police. We're also told Rice's lawyer had a copy of the video, which he got in the criminal case."

In response to this report, the NFL released the following statement:

After the video was released to the public on Monday by TMZ, the Baltimore Ravens terminated Ray Rice's contract and the NFL suspended him indefinitely.

On Tuesday morning, Rice's wife Janay criticizes the NFL and the media in an Instagram post.