FUSE TV - Bill O'Reilly Thinks Beyonce Is Bad for American Society

Last week Bill O'Reilly invited Russell Simmons on The O'Reilly Factor to discuss the hip hop entrepreneur's new book, but the conversation quickly dissolved into a debate about Beyonce. In the interview, O'Reilly admitted to not totally understanding the video for "Partition," eventually calling it "exploitative garbage" and questioning the validity of her art. 

Apparently his taste for Bey bashing doesn't end there. The Fox News personality was a guest on the Late Show with David Letterman when Beyonce came into conversation once more. He complained that her visual album was too raunchy and that "a lot of young girls who don't have responsible parents idolize her."

Letterman didn't let him get away that easy, retorting with, "If you're going to select this as a category to be critical about... it's not Beyonce. This has been going on for the last 40, 50 years. What about Miley Cyrus?" To which O'Reilly responds, "I missed that, I don't know."

The conversation then spirals into more racist and sexist territory, with O'Reilly concluding "thug" music (which he apparently believes includes Bey?!) is destroying America. "Right now in the African American community 72 percent of babies are born out of wedlock. Back when Motown was hot in the '60s, it was 10 percent or 12 percent," O'Reilly said [Note: The statement is factually correct, but shotgun weddings decreased drastically after 1969, precisely when the percentage of children born out of wedlock began to rise]. 

"What we're seeing is a deleterious effect on American society," he concluded. "And all I'm saying to somebody like Beyonce is, 'Look, these girls love you. They idolize you. You have all the money you need. You are very talented, do some uplifting stuff. You'll sell as many records.'" 

Once again, Letterman saves the day by adding, "Beyonce, in her way, does as much uplifting activity as anyone in popular culture today... I think you just found something to whine about because you're getting to be an old guy like me."

O'Reilly giggles, "There's truth to that." 

If you're not Bill O'Reilly and actually enjoyed Beyonce's killer "Partition" video, check out our behind-the-scenes interview with the director right here.