From his dumb remarks about rap music to that time he called a colleague an
"insulting punk" on live TV, Geraldo Rivera has said a lot of controversial
things over the years. Here's how the Fox News personality flexes his shady side.
When Casey Anthony was tried in 2011 for the suspected killing of her 2-year-old daughter,
media outlets all across the U.S. reported on the story. Fox News was one of the outlets that
covered the trial, which meant that Geraldo Rivera's opinion on Anthony was shared with
the world. As you might have guessed, the famously uncensored reporter didn't hold back.
Rivera discussed a tattoo of Anthony's that read
"Bella Vita," which translates to "The Beautiful Life." Rivera said on Fox,
"More evidence... I think it will end the prosecution case [...] with a bang,
so to speak, to show that this was a selfish, narcissistic,
self-involved s--- who wanted to kill her child to have 'la bella vita.'"
This controversial moment resulted in a backlash,
and went on to make Politico's list of the "Top 5 legendary Geraldo incidents."
Rivera got riled up about Anthony again during an appearance on "The O'Reilly Factor" in 2011 after
the mother was acquitted of killing her daughter. This time, he shared a much different opinion.
"Number one, there was not one bit of evidence that this mother
ever in any way neglected or abused this child."
Geraldo Rivera’s boldness got him involved in another controversy during a March 2023 episode
of "The Five." Rivera and his co-workers were in the middle of discussing the four
Americans who were kidnapped by cartel members in Mexico in 2023. Latavia "Tay" McGee and Eric
James Williams survived the kidnapping, while Zindell Brown and Shaeed Woodard were killed.
In a particularly tasteless moment, Rivera decided to make some jokes
about drugs while reporting on the tragedy. While speaking on the show,
he declared that he was "never into cocaine" and said his behavior was "unlike some sitting
at this table." "The Five" co-host Jesse Watters then chimed in and jokingly called
colleague Dana Perino "Snow White." In drug slang, "snow" is a nickname for cocaine.
But it wasn't the first time that Rivera crossed the line on the show.
Just a few months before, he made another offensive comment that got a lot of heat:
"I think the most important person in the failure of the Democratic Party is
George Floyd. I think that once he was murdered, the country went crazy with
defund the police and everything else. So the democrats led the charge."
After Rivera's remarks aired, users quickly took to Twitter to share
their frustrations, with one person tweeting,
"Geraldo Rivera has no business being employed by Fox News. It's
telling that they continue to allow him on their network to spew lies."
The TV personality shared a not-so-well-received opinion on
"Fox & Friends" about the Florida teen who was shot and killed by George Zimmerman in 2012:
"I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin's death as George Zimmerman was."
He then went on to add:
"You have to recognize that this whole stylizing yourself as a 'gangsta'”
"Well people are gonna perceive you as a menace."
Rivera even stood behind this statement despite the backlash on a separate episode
of "Fox & Friends." Some suggested that he should have been fired for his comments. But considering
the fact that he made various other controversial comments over the years, it appeared that his
employer did not mind. Rivera later apologized in a statement shared with Politico, saying, in part,
"I apologize to anyone offended by what one prominent black conservative
called my 'very practical and potentially life-saving campaign
urging black and Hispanic parents not to let their children go around wearing hoodies.'"
TV personality Matt Lauer was fired from NBC News in 2017 after he faced a number of sexual
misconduct allegations. Many of the former "Today" host's colleagues cut ties with him after the
allegations came to light, but Geraldo Rivera actually defended him. He took to Twitter to
suggest that Lauer's alleged behavior was somehow just part of the broadcast journalism business.
"Sad about @MLauer great guy, highly skilled & empathetic w guests & a real gentleman to
my family & me. News is a flirty business & it seems like [the] current epidemic of
#SexHarassmentAllegations may be criminalizing courtship & conflating it w predation."
In a separate tweet he shared,
"#SexHarassment should be confined to situations where [a] superior imposes
himself on [a] subordinate who feels unable to complain because of [the]
power of [the] perp or feared consequences to [the] victim's
employment. Shouldn't be used to get even w bad bosses or hated ex's."
Understandably, these tweets didn't go over well,
and Fox News stepped in to share that they did not support what Rivera said
about Lauer. This may have been what pushed the reporter to issue an apology.
In 2013, Rolling Stone reporter Michael Hastings was killed in a car accident in
Los Angeles. Hastings' 2010 exposé on U.S. Army General Stanley McChrystal put his name on the
map. In the profile, McChrystal and his staff were captured disrespecting the Obama administration,
and it was so impactful that then-President Barack Obama responded to the general's behavior:
"The conduct represented in the recently published article
does not meet the standard that should be met by — set by a commanding general."
McChrystal later announced his decision to resign. It seems that Rivera wasn't
a fan of Hastings' exposé, because he brought it
up in a tweet following the journalist's death. The TV personality wrote in part:
"Hard to forget he destroyed [the] career of 1 of our best fighting generals."
Geraldo Rivera caught the attention of rapper Kendrick Lamar when he mentioned the
rapper's song, "Alright," during a Fox News broadcast. The song includes these lyrics:
"And we hate po-po / Wanna kill us dead in the street for sure."
After hearing the lyrics, Geraldo took a swipe at Lamar and the entire genre of hip-hop:
"This is why I say that Hip-Hop has done more damage to young
African Americans than racism in recent years."
Geraldo then added: "This is exactly the wrong message."
Lamar fired back by including audio of Rivera's rant in his song "DNA." Of course,
Rivera didn't hesitate to issue a response to the rapper. During a Facebook Live stream he shared,
"I think too much of [...] rap in the last couple of decades has really portrayed the cops as the
enemy, as the occupying army in the ghetto, in the inner city, in the urban centers."
Geraldo Rivera is known to get into heated arguments with his co-hosts. One disagreement
got so intense that he began firing off insults at Fox News personality Greg Gutfeld. The pair
began debating the topic of abortion rights during an episode of "The Five." The 2022
segment aired just after the Supreme Court announced the plan to move forward with
its decision to overturn the 1973 ruling of Roe v. Wade. Rivera said on the show:
"What this shows is that the Senate confirmation process by
which a nominee is interrogated by both parties and give their reasons
why they are fit to be on the high court, is absolutely deeply flawed."
"Why? Because these nominees lie."
Rivera, who is in favor of abortion access, went on to say that the three justices nominated by
Donald Trump had planned on overturning Roe v. Wade all along. Gutfeld then shot back and said,
"It used to be even the pro-choicers would admit that abortion was an ugly thing,
but they felt it had to be a necessary evil. But now when you go anywhere on
social media, it's something to celebrate, to cherish, to shout."
The two then engaged in a back-and-forth that
ended in Rivera calling Gutfeld "arrogant," before shouting,
"You insulting punk!"
No matter where you stand on the issue, this messy name-calling session was without a doubt shady.
In 2021, Geraldo Rivera got into another heated on-air argument with civil rights attorney Leo
Terrell. The pair appeared on "America's Newsroom" to talk about Tishaura Jones,
the first Black woman to be elected as mayor of St Louis, Missouri. Jones had previously said that
a white mayor might not be the best fit to serve St Louis because, as she put it during a debate,
"I don't believe that they have the lived experiences to lead a majority-minority city."
Terrell, who is Black, shared his stance on Jones' assertion, saying,
"That is the most insulting, racist comment. [...] To say that she is
basically in a better position because she's Black is insulting,
it's racist, and it makes no sense whatever. I reject that argument."
Rivera stepped in it big time with his response, when he asked Terrel:
"Hey Leo, when was the last time you were in the ghetto?"
The attorney made it clear that he wasn't happy with that question.
"What are you trying to imply?"
Rivera later took to Twitter to apologize for his remark.
If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault,
help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network
website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).