News and Commentary

BET Founder Robert Johnson Mocks Crowds Pulling Down Statues, Canceling TV Shows, Apologizing For Being White

   DailyWire.com
Robert Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), speaks to the media during the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, U.S., on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. Media dealmakers digesting $53 billion of mergers, spinoffs and acquisitions announced so far this year, head to Allen & Co.s Sun Valley conference this week to lay the groundwork for more.
Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

On Wednesday, BET Founder Robert Johnson mocked those who are destroying statues across the U.S. and who are trying to cancel television shows because they think that’s what black people want.

During an interview with Fox News, Johnson said that those who are destroying statues across the country “have the mistaken assumption that black people are sitting around cheering for them saying ‘Oh, my God, look at these white people. They’re doing something so important to us. They’re taking down the statue of a Civil War general who fought for the South.'”

“You know, black people, in my opinion, black people laugh at white people who do this the same way we laugh at white people who say we got to take off the TV shows [like] The Dukes of Hazard,” Johnson continued. “I bet if you go back and look at the Nielsen ratings when The Dukes of Hazard was on television, I’ll bet you it had a huge black viewing population. The one thing you can do is research it, find out, because blacks watched more television than whites did, always has been historically.”

Johnson also took a shot at white Americans who think that by doing “emotionally or drastic things” that black people will look at them and think that white people love them. Johnson said that “black people don’t give a damn” if statues of people like Stonewall Jackson, who was a Confederate general, are taken down.

Johnson also mocked HBO Max for taking down “Gone with the Wind,” then putting it back with a disclaimer, saying, “What the hell do you need a disclaimer with ‘Gone with the Wind,’ as if black people think that we believe that slavery was like ‘Gone with the Wind’? Who are you trying to convince?”

“Look, the people who are basically tearing down statues, trying to make a statement, are basically borderline anarchists, the way I look at it. They really have no agenda other than the idea we’re going to topple a statue,” Johnson said. “It’s not going to give a kid whose parents can’t afford college money to go to college. It’s not going to close the labor gap between what white workers are paid and what black workers are paid. And it’s not going to take people off welfare or food stamps.”

Johnson also mocked “white privilege,” and those who get on social media and apologize for being white.

“You know, that to me is the silliest expression of white privilege that exists in this country. The notion that a celebrity could get on a Twitter feed and say, ‘Oh my God, I am so sorry that I am white.’ I don’t find any black people getting on Twitter and saying, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry I’m black.’ And we got the worst problems. … My thing is: embrace being white and do the right thing.”

The Daily Wire, headed by bestselling author and popular podcast host Ben Shapiro, is a leading provider of conservative news, cutting through the mainstream media’s rhetoric to provide readers the most important, relevant, and engaging stories of the day. Get inside access to The Daily Wire by becoming a member.

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  BET Founder Robert Johnson Mocks Crowds Pulling Down Statues, Canceling TV Shows, Apologizing For Being White