Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore, Wikipedia
There has been a lot of outrage has been directed toward Fox News host Laura Ingraham this past week over her distasteful remarks about the late Nipsey Hussle.
Just one day after his memorial service, Ingraham decided to bring up Nipsey on her show, “The Ingraham Angle.”
As thousands of people were still mourning the loss of the beloved rapper, she decided to mock him on air just a day after his service.
She brought up a song he is featured on called “FDT,” which is short for “F*** Donald Trump.” Instead of acknowledging all of his wonderful accomplishments and achievements he made during his lifetime to give people in his community a better life, she instead chose to mock this man because of their different political viewpoints.
Whether or not you fall on different sides of the political spectrum, there is a time and place to bring these issues up. Doing so a day after his memorial service, when he was suddenly and tragically taken from so many people’s lives, is just flat out inappropriate.
What’s even worse is how the show brought this up because it appeared to slander him. With a heading at the bottom of the screen that said “Nipsey Hussle’s Wholesome Song Featuring President Donald Trump,’’ it openly mocked Nipsey.
It is also not even his song, as the song belongs to the artist YG. This makes the headline dangerously misleading, on top of being poorly timed.
This segment was trying to make Nipsey out to look like a thug, which is disrespectful but sadly not uncommon in today’s media. The segment sparked cries from several rappers and celebrities to get Ingraham off the air.
Justin Bieber has recently said that Ingraham's comments were "absolutely disgusting" and that she "should be fired.”
Rapper T.I. chimed in on Instagram by saying, "This is disgusting! You both are vile despicable, poor excuses for people."
Longtime friend of Nipsey and Los Angeles rapper The Game also made a statement on his Instagram, saying, "I'm asking all of my followers, fans, friends, & family to spread this video with demands of #LauraIngrahams termination immediately."
This is not Ingraham’s first time in the spotlight for disrespectful comments. In 2018, she faced an ad boycott for mocking a Parkland shooting survivor. She does not appear to be backing down either, giving a forced apology immediately followed by her saying she won’t be “silenced by the left.”
In the current political climate of the United States, it is easy to disagree with the opposite side. However, some things are more important than politics, and some places are not appropriate for bringing up politics.
This is one of those times because this is bigger than politics. Ingraham sees this as a right against left issue, when in reality, it is a bigger issue of human decency and compassion that she showed to blatantly lack.
mcaprio1@ramapo.edu
