Bill O’Reilly Has Been Fired By FOX News. Hip-Hop Responds.

UPDATE: On April 19, it was confirmed that Bill O’Reilly has been fired by FOX News following the latest sexual harassment reports. The top-ranking pundit and Conservative personality is said to return with an independent podcast.

It appears to be the end of an era at one of the world’s most influential and conservative media conglomerates. According to still-developing reports, FOX News has plans to terminate Bill O’Reilly’s 21-year tenure as a political pundit and host of The O’Reilly Factor after an explosive report broke earlier this month detailing his alleged sexual harassment of women for years. That April 1 New York Times cover story even made a dent in the Hip-Hop community, as O’Reilly has a history of coming for rappers in the past, and it seems that a karmic effect has finally landed at the conservative media personality’s footsteps, with Hip-Hop celebrating in kind.

Ludacris Teaches Bill O’Reilly How To Have Class, In A New Interview (Video)

According to a report in New York magazine citing an anonymous source with direct ties to the story, FOX “network executives are preparing to announce O’Reilly’s departure before he returns from an Italian vacation on April 24.” Calling him a “ratings king” for the news channel, the report also says “executives are holding emergency meetings to discuss how they can sever the relationship with the country’s highest-rated cable-news host without causing collateral damage to the network.” His apparent dismissal comes on the heels of news executive Roger Ailes’ ouster from the same network last summer, due to similar charges of repeated sexual harassment of women.

Since news of O’Reilly’s impending firing hit Twitter, Hip-Hop lit the social-media platform ablaze. Many could be seen re-posting Cam’ron and Damon Dash’s infamous “you mad?” interview with the Republican pundit from years ago. This includes celebrated Hip-Hop journalist Jeff Weiss, who shared a meme from that moment in Hip-Hop history.

Talib Kweli also reacted publicly to the news, Tweeting “Alex Jones had to admit he’s fake news. Bill O’Reilly was fired. Milo was caught supporting pedophiles, fired. Hannity, you’re next,” directly addressing another FOX News personality, Sean Hannity.

At press time, rappers who have had clashes with Bill O’Reilly such as Ludacris, Cam’ron, Common, and Lupe Fiasco had not taken to Twitter to react to the news of his firing. However, Russell Simmons, who was interviewed by O’Reilly and got into it with him over comments O’Reilly made about Beyonce, did Retweet @UltraViolet’s Tweet calling O’Reilly “a sexual predator that needs to be fired immediately!”