Ludacris Teaches Bill O’Reilly How To Have Class, In A New Interview (Video)
Earlier this month, the New York Times ran an explosive front-page story on Bill O’Reilly, the conservative news pundit famous for his FOX News program, The O’Reilly Factor. According to the newspaper, O’Reilly and the network he serves have paid over $13 million to women who have accused him of sexual harassment going back 15 years. O’Reilly vehemently denies the claims, saying his accusers are simply out for money. Nevertheless, advertisers are abandoning him in droves, with upwards of 60 companies now refusing to air ads during The O’Reilly Factor.
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Yesterday (April 9), John Oliver devoted a significant portion of Last Week Tonight to the O’Reilly scandal, but he took it well beyond in-depth analysis of a news story. In true Oliver fashion, he announced that his show developed its very own advertisement directed at Donald Trump, who has made his support for O’Reilly very clear. In fact, Last Week Tonight even offered to buy airtime on FOX News during the broadcast of O’Reilly’s program, so as to offset some of the tremendous loss the network is facing in the wake of the accusations against O’Reilly. However, as Oliver reports, the network has yet to respond to their offer – for reasons that are humorously clear after watching the ad in question:
This is hardly the only scandal O’Reilly has faced in his career. Heads may recall a particularly hostile relationship between O’Reilly and Ludacris, which centered around a Pepsi commercial. In light of recent events involving the soda company (which just pulled a tone-deaf ad campaign starring Kendall Jenner, in which Pepsi appeared to make light of protest movements for black lives, women, and immigrants), the 2002 “beef” between the news pundit and the rapper has resurfaced. Back then, Pepsi enlisted Luda as a spokesperson, casting him in a commercial directed by Straight Outta Compton‘s F. Gary Gray. O’Reilly took umbrage with their choice in celebrity spokesman, labeling Luda as “a man who degrades women” and arguing that “he’s not an artist, he’s a thug.”
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Though 15 years old, the story seems timely today, and it became a talking point on The Breakfast Club this morning (April 10). Guests Ludacris and Tyrese came through Power 105 in New York City to visit Charlamagne, DJ Envy, and Angela Yee to promote their forthcoming film in the Fast & Furious franchise, Fate of the Furious. However, with both Bill O’Reilly and Pepsi making headlines in recent days, the interview actually opens up with Luda commenting on his experience with O’Reilly all those years ago.
“The irony is crazy,” ‘Cris says about being slandered by O’Reilly, a man being accused of sexual harassment by multiple women, for degrading women. “I’ll be honest with you, the last time I was on The Breakfast Club I specifically told you guys that I had a man-to-man talk with him,” says Luda at the :42 mark. “I ran up on him at the White House Correspondents Dinner. The crazy thing is, it’s not my place to judge Bill O’Reilly the same way that he judged me. That’s how I feel about it. It’s a lot of maturity and a lot of growth. I’ve moved on past it. I’m thriving in life right now, and all I can do is hope that Bill O’Reilly settles these issues and learns from whatever mistakes he may have made.”
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Immediately following Luda’s comments, Tyrese remarks on how important it is to “attack the sponsorship” of any media personality who makes outrageous and illegitimate claims about someone or something. Luda echoes the sentiments, and adds his two cents in the context of blanket condemnation of Rap music in general – which O’Reilly has done many times. “And all that overly criticizing and just condemning all Rap artists and Rap music for misogyny…and just look what’s going on,” he says.
Elsewhere in the discussion, the guests discuss working with F. Gary Gray, the blowback from some women of color Tyrese recently faced, new music, and more.