Conservative radio host and author Laura Ingraham jumped into a Twitter battle with the rappers Chris Brown and 50 Cent after she took offense right in Matt Lauer's face at Brown’s appearance in the Today show’s summer concert series, and then added more fire in a Friday night commentary as she guest-hosted The O’Reilly Factor.
50 Cent was easily offended: “I just saw a clip on Fox news Hating on NBC for having chris brown on unbelievable. I’m never watching that again.” Brown boasted: “Running boring and pointless stories don’t matter! My fans prove that everyday and the haters look just as old as F**k!” (Asterisks by Brown.)
Jon Bershad at Mediaite reported :
A few hours after Brown’s appearance on Today, Ingraham was guest hosting The O’Reilly Factor and she laid into the singer with a segment titled “NBC Rewarding Bad Behavior?” in which she showed clips of a producer confronting Brown’s fans with pictures of Rihanna’s battered face. Unsurprisingly, Brown was not thrilled. What is surprising is that he and 50 Cent apparently watch The O’Reilly Factor.
Ingraham said she and Raymond Arroyo, her collaborator on the new book Of Thee I Zing were in New York thinking homelessness was on the rise when the light bulb went on:
...We realized they were camping out two nights early to see Chris Brown. Now, whatever you think of his music, Chris Brown beat his girlfriend to a pulp. He uses the N word, the C word, the S word, the F word, some of the most degrading misogynistic lyrics in some of his top songs like “Look at Me Now". And he trashed the ABC studio, yet he is treated like royalty, the Pope, whatever the best analogy is on the "Today" show.
She protested: “These people who are anchors at NBC, they are great parents, they're good people. I'm sure they wouldn't let their kids go around using this language or behaving this way. But you know, I guess the executives at NBC thought they are going to get 18,000 people camping out [for Chris Brown].”
Ingraham ended up tweeting at Chris Brown: “Will @ChrisBrown repudiate his misogynistic, vile fans or allow them to continue their virtual assault and battery?”
