One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Bill O'Reilly Says Diddy Should "Redistribute" His Son's UCLA Scholarship
Sean "P. Diddy" Combs via Shutterstock
Bill O'Reilly has decided to take a populist position with the revelation that Sean "Diddy" Combs' son Justin has won an athletic scholarship to UCLA.On his show yesterday, O'Reilly weighed in on whether it was ethical for the athletic spawn of Diddy to take the $54,000 scholarship awarded to him to play football. O'Reilly said that because Diddy is a supporter of a President Obama—and by extension class warfare—he has an obligation to pass it on to some other student who needs it more.
“Diddy is one of the big class warfare guys," O'Reilly said on his show yesterday. "He's a big Obama guy."
Hey, it would be nice if one of hip hop's wealthiest moguls rallied against cuts and perpetual tuition hikes on behalf of his son's less-wealthy future classmates in the UC system. (It's notoriously hard to get the wealthy to care about less sexy causes like public schools, say.) But rich kids get athletic scholarships, too, and UCLA pointed out that Combs' education isn't being subsidized through taxpayer funds.
But O'Reilly isn't trying to make it a race thing, right?
"He's down, as they say in the 'hood, with all of the income redistribution. Okay, so let's redistribute it, Diddy. You pay and let some other kid have the scholarship."
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
