Gerald Rivera went and p##### off Uncle Russell Simmons.
The Def Jam founder took exception to recent comments made by Geraldo that claimed rap music has harmed Black and Brown people that racism.
Russell objected.
“Geraldo, the prison industrial complex got people so twisted,” Simmons told TMZ. “For 40 years, they’ve been locking up diseased drug addicts, educating them on criminal behavior and dumping them back in the hood. The poetry and the reflection [in hip-hop] are what come from that jail culture; that’s obvious…The media is really dumb to let that man [speak]. He needs to be progressive and do good work to help people. And now he’s a talking head.”
On Huff Po Live, Geraldo said, “Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years.”
“And I love Russell Simmons,” Geraldo continued. “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, and I lament it. I really do. I think that it has been very destructive culturally.”
Not sharing in the affection, Simmons took the time to send one last dagger at the Fox News contributor.
“He lost on ‘[Celebrity] Apprentice,’ man, I can’t respect that,” Russell said. “After losing he needs to just talk. He needs to get himself relevant.”