Geraldo Rivera said Wednesday that rap music has done more damage to minorities than racism, even citing hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons as part of the problem. Simmons responded Thursday, and did not mince words in his opinion of Rivera.
After placing second on this year’s Celebrity Apprentice, Rivera sat down to discuss his time on the show with HuffPost Live, where he said rap music is damaging and that Simmons perpetuates the demise of young black and Latino men.
Rivera said:
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.
From what Simmons told TMZ Thursday, Rivera may need to reevaluate his definition of a “dear friend.”
After some brief confusion regarding the pronunciation of Rivera’s first name, (Geraldo… Jeraldo… Jurrr-aldo,) the rap icon went after the FOX News correspondent, whom he described as a talking head:
He lost on Apprentice man, I can’t respect that…
Geraldo, after losing, he needs to just talk, he’s got get himself relevant and even the fact that he got picked up by the news to have that dialogue… the media is really dumb…
He used to be a progressive, he used to do good work and help people, now he’s just a talking head.
He hasn’t done s–t to help nobody not in a very long time, but he used to do something, 30-40 years ago, but he’s not relevant no more.
Simmons also blamed society and the criminal justice system for the ills in black communities regarding drugs and criminal behavior. “The poetry is a reflection of what comes from that jail culture,” he said.
Follow Kipp Jones on Twitter @kipjones
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