By Ismael AbduSalaam
Pundit Bill O’Reilly has responded to Nas’ protest at Fox headquarters yesterday, calling the demonstration nothing more than a publicity stunt.
On his show, O’Reilly again took aim at the Queensbridge poet’s lyrics.
“As you may have heard, that guy [Nas] is accusing Fox News of being a racist organization. This from a person that makes a living peddling the ‘n word’ and violent lyrics to his target audience of children and young adults,” O’Reilly stated last night on his show the O’Reilly Factor. “He is a real champ.”
O’Reilly further dismissed the media attention the protest received, which was fueled by over 600,000 petition signatures condemning the network’s alleged demeaning actions, such as O’Reilly threatening a “lynching” party on Michelle Obama and the network referring to her as “Obama’s baby mama.”
“The good news is that very few media have given him attention and those who did don’t deserve your attention, they are corrupt,” O’Reilly claimed.
Despite Nas’ untitled album’s standing as the number one release in the country, O’Reilly was adamant that the critically acclaimed LP is a disappointment that fueled Nas’ protest.
“Nas had an obvious agenda. His new album is a bomb, a disaster, a catastrophe, and he desperately wants attention” O’Reilly explained. “Two years ago his last album sold 355,000 copies his first week and this time only 187,000 copies. Not good. I hope I’m not a racist for pointing that out.”
The feud between O’Reilly and Nas began last year when the controversial commentator denounced Nas as a violent rapper, after the he was scheduled to perform a benefit concert for Virginia Tech victims.
Nas responded in various print media before an official response on his new album titled “Sly Fox.”
Yesterday, Nas delivered over 600,000 petition signatures to Fox’s Manhattan headquarters and delivered a short speech criticizing the network as a “propaganda machine” and racist in its coverage of African-Americans.
Later, the rapper was interviewed by political satirist Stephen Colbert on his show “the Colbert Report” and performed “Sly Fox.”
There, he once again revealed he would be willing to debate O’ Reilly on their differences.
Nas’ untitled album was released on July 15 and is currently ranked #1 on Billboard’s top 200 album chart.