Cam'ron recalls being warned about Bill O'Reilly before their famous 2003 interview in which the ex-Fox News host suggested the rapper's music encourages gun violence
CNN
- Cam'ron has recalled being warned about Bill O'Reilly prior to their famous interview in 2003.
- During the interview, O'Reilly suggested that Cam'ron's music encourages gun violence and "hurts children."
- "They like, 'Yo, Cam, he's an asshole,'" the rapper said he was told by Roc-A-Fella officials.
Cam'ron has recalled being warned about "asshole" Bill O'Reilly prior to their famous interview in 2003.
The "Oh Boy" rapper and Roc-A-Fella co-founder Dame Dash sat down for an interview with O'Reilly on his Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor" to discuss the effects of rap music on American youth.
After introducing Cam'ron as "a Grammy nominee" who raps about "pimpin' and bitches," O'Reilly suggested that the rapper's music encourages gun violence and "hurts children."
Cam'ron and Dash attempted to hit back at O'Reilly's claims, but were continually interrupted by the presenter, who at one point became angry and loudly told the pair to "hold it."
At that point, Cam'ron replied to O'Reilly: "Why you don't wanna let him talk? You mad, you mad, you mad! When did you start covering the field? I got dirt on you, doggy."
Reflecting on the interview during a recent appearance on the "KFC Radio" podcast, Cam'ron said he was warned by Roc-A-Fella officials about O'Reilly.
"They like, 'Yo, Cam he's an asshole. I'm telling you this!'" the rapper recalled. "I'm like, 'I don't give a fuck.' I'm me, so I don't care when I go up there but the whole staff at Roc-A-Fella is tryna warn me like, 'Okay Cam,' and I really wasn't giving a fuck.'"
"So basically, we get up there and the first thing he says is, 'Cam'ron who's known for rhyming about pimpin' and bitches.' And I'm like, 'Bet, it's on!'" he added. "From the jump! And that's how that all came about. As soon as they prepped me, as soon as he said, 'Cam'ron rhyming about pimpin' and bitches,' I said, 'Yeah, we gon' have a good time.'"
Cam'ron also revealed that he was supposed to do the interview without Dame Dash, but that the music mogul insisted on coming with him.
"So, I remember being in the office and Dame comes in the office like, 'Yo, you going on Bill O' Reilly tomorrow?' And I said 'Yeah, I'm going tomorrow.' And Dame says, 'I don't know if you're ready by yourself, I'm going with you. No, I'm definitely going with you because you don't know this type of guy,'" he said.
O'Reilly was fired from Fox News in 2017 after The New York Times reported that he and Fox News had paid five women approximately $13 million to settle various sexual misconduct lawsuits.
Speaking with Noisey shortly after O'Reilly was fired, Cam'ron said that he was aware of the allegations against the presenter at the time of their 2003 interview, which is why he said, "I've got dirt on you, doggy."
"As far as all of the sexual allegations, before I went up there, what I did was my publicist had told me about a lot of that stuff, but instead of being serious with him, we had so much fun clowning him that it just turned into a roast session and we just started laughing at him," the rapper said.
"I probably was prepped an hour before I went to the show," he added. "It was more funny than anything else. But you know, sexual assault really isn't funny, so if he really did those things, then it's good that Fox got rid of him."