Robin Givens: Getting Apology from Oprah Winfrey After Domestic Violence Faux Pas

After all the hoopla about whether Oprah Winfrey is being hypocritical with her stance on domestic violence, one woman is holding the beloved media maven accountable.

On Nov. 13, Robin Givens came face-to-face with her 'Women of Brewster Place' co-star and producer to express her disappointment with how Winfrey recently handled an interview with her ex-husband, Mike Tyson.

The 45-year-old former 'Head of the Class' actress is the spokesperson for the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

She wrote a letter to the talk show diva about how deeply disturbed and saddened she was by her reaction to the former boxing champion when he appeared on the show to promote his critically acclaimed documentary.

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In Tyson's October sit-down with Winfrey, he said he was overwhelmed by the lies Givens told Barbara Walters during the odd couple's infamous 1998 TV interview and that he "truly wanted to sock her."

He added, "Afterwards, I didn't sock her, [but] I had socked her before and she socked me before, as well." And then there was laughter from the studio audience.

"I was really, really hurt, and it was Domestic Violence Awareness month," Givens told Winfrey.

She reminded Winfrey that Tyson said the best punch he ever threw at her, before adding, "it was tough to experience, but it's tough to have a man say it and feel like it's no big thing."

She took the talk show diva to task, saying, "I'm a woman with love for you, tremendous respect, tremendous admiration, and I wouldn't be honest if there wasn't a part of me that, when he said, 'I socked her before,' [for you to not] say 'that's not right' and it wasn't right...it was painful."

"When there is this laughter, if you are in that situation out there, it kind of lightens it for all the women that are experiencing it," Givens continued.

Winfrey then apologized. "In that moment, I felt that I should have said something, [like] 'Audience that isn't funny.' Or 'Audience this is really serious.' So I regret it even after that moment."

"I would say to you, and to every woman who has ever been hit, I feel that I did not handle that as well as I should have, and I feel that I could have gone further and should have said more to clarify that what he was doing and what he was saying was wrong," Winfrey confessed. "I apologize to you, and I apologize to every woman who has ever been in that situation. I apologize for not being sharp enough to make sure that you know that I don't think that that's okay."

Rihanna's name came up in the discussion, too. The 'Umbrella' singer, who was involved in a very public domestic violence ordeal with boyfriend Chris Brown, recently spoke out about her relationship with Brown on a '20/20' interview with Diane Sawyer.

"Rihanna said it quite well," said Givens. "She said, 'I did not cause this.' And, I did not cause it and woman going through this, you're not causing it."

Winfrey agreed that Rihanna "did a beautiful job."