Russell Simmons has fired back at Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera, who took a jab at the hip-hop mogul during a “HuffPost Live” interview Tuesday.
“Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years,” Rivera said before naming Simmons directly. “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. And I lament it. I really do. I think that it has been very destructive culturally.”
Well, TMZ caught up with Simmons to get his reaction. Among other things, he called Rivera “not relevant.” Check it out below…
As for Geraldo, this afternoon he’s just “chilling” near his home in New Jersey, thinking and tweeting:
Chilling in Edgewater trying to figure why I froze post @CelebApprentice glow with an unrelated Hip Hop controversy? pic.twitter.com/sObbNwcdXL
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) February 19, 2015