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Whitney Houston in 2000.
Whether Bill O’Reilly is begging for attention or just plain insensitive, he managed to criticize Whitney Houston and Tony Bennett in one accusatory slap on his FOX News program, "The O'Reilly Factor," Monday night. The outspoken conservative’s latest rant points the finger of blame at the late singer for causing her own death, while also criticizes singer Bennett for his personal thoughts on the matter.
Commenting on Bennett’s recent statements that a more liberal drug policy could have saved Houston’s life, O’Reilly argued that the real problem was easy access to narcotics. Though he may not have been terribly off-point, it was his choice of language that triggered the latest outrage, as he went on to state that the singer obviously “destroyed herself;” that “Mr. Bennett’s grasp on reality has slipped;” and that Houston’s repeated drug and alcohol abuse indicated she wanted to die.
O’Reilly remarked, "Nobody takes drugs for that long if they want to stay on the planet. She follows in the footsteps of Elvis, Janis Joplin, Michael Jackson, and scores of other entertainment figures. The hard truth is that some people will always want to destroy themselves, and there's nothing society can do about it.”
His remarks are not being taken well by fans and admirers, especially since Houston has barely been gone for two days. Fans reacting on Twitter are calling O’Reilly “disrespectful,” harsh, and senseless.
“I can't stand this CREEP, Bill O'Reilly,” tweets Chuck U. Tszu. “He dishonors Whitney Houston by saying she wanted to die.”
Adds @whodat_chic, “He's an idiot."
Do drug addicts really want to kill themselves? Watch the clip and tell us on Facebook.
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