After placing second on this year’s Celebrity Apprentice, Fox News Correspondent Geraldo Rivera sat down to discuss the show with HuffPost Live, where he said rap music has done more damage to minorities than racism.
In a wide-ranging interview, with a discussion of topics from Brian Williams to gay marriage, after calling Benghazi a “pornographic non-scandal,” Rivera told the Huffington Post’s Josh Zepps: “Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years.”
When you find a youngster — a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or a black kid from Harlem who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that make it in the music business — that’s been a success in life walking around with his pants around his ass and with visible tattoos.
He continued, taking hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons to task:
I love Russell Simmons, he’s a dear friend of mine. I admire his business acumen. At some point, those guys have to cop to the fact that by encouraging this distinctive culture that is removed from the mainstream, they have encouraged people to be so different from the mainstream that they can’t participate other than, you know, the racks in the garment center and those entry-level jobs.
“I lament it. I really do. I think that it has been very destructive culturally,” Rivera finished.
Rivera also said he “lamented” the way NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams is being treated for exaggerating his coverage of the Iraq War, something Rivera has been accused of in the past.
“To wreck a guy’s career, behind one tall tale, I think is really out of line.”
You can watch Geraldo’s entire interview here.