Geraldo Rivera is the very definition of low-hanging fruit, but let’s do this anyway. He’s an awful, terribly unpleasant human being. From the days of his talk show featuring skinhead fights to the fateful moment when he revealed troop coordinates live on Fox News, Rivera isn’t anyone you’d trust on any level. He’s someone who shouldn’t be on television, but people keep handing him money to talk.

Geraldo’s currently promoting his run on Celebrity Apprentice. He stopped by HuffPo Live to unleash some random verbal diarrhea. Let’s just say that Geraldo won’t be watching Straight Outta Compton in theaters. He does want to make sure we don’t call him a racist, so he takes great care to mention his “dear friend,” hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Once Russell gets wind of what Gerry boy said, I don’t think they’ll be friends anymore:

Hip hop “I’m a militant moderate. I borrow from both. For instance, immigration reform, gay marriage, abortion are all things … that’s why I voted for Barack Obama … but … for instance, hip-hop. Hip-hop has done more damage to black and brown people than racism in the last 10 years. When you find the youngster, a Puerto Rican from the South Bronx or black kid from Harlem, who has succeeded in life other than being the one-tenth of one-tenth of one percent that make it in the music business. That’s been a success in life, walking around with his pants around his a** and with visible tattoos.”

Geraldo has a black friend: “I love Russell Simmonss. 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.”

[From HuffPo Live]

Yep, I’m still gonna call Geraldo a racist. He’s namedropping Russell Simmons as a friend and also telling the guy he’s ruining the world by “encouraging this distinctive culture.” The funny thing is this — Geraldo clearly doesn’t realize hip hop’s origins as a creative outlet for voices who found no recognition in the mainstream. Geraldo is relying upon the image pushed by the corporatization of hip hop and one that is readily accepted by the mainstream. He may very well be operating on the basis of a hip hop song he heard in an elevator. He doesn’t even know what he’s criticizing.

Considering what this guy said about Treyvon Martin wearing a hoodie, I’m not surprised at his stance on hip-hop music. STFU, Geraldo.

Photos courtesy of WENN