Bill O’reilly Blames Beyonce’s Lyrics for the spike in teen pregnancy

By April Taylor

Bill O’Reilly has recently gone on another rant against Beyoncé.  The talk show host has railed Beyoncé in the past for her sexuαl lyrics and erotic displays during her performances, and the segment that aired Friday regarding the singer was no different.  O’Reilly aired the piece in response to Time magazine choosing to put Beyoncé on its cover for its 100 most influential people in the world issue.

In the rant, O’Reilly once again blames Beyoncé for teen pregnancy even though his previous attempt at blaming teen pregnancy on the singer brought a press backlash since Beyoncé is of course married to Jay Z.  He went on to say that Beyoncé is responsible for promoting teen pregnancy because she makes sex look like fun.  O’Reilly mentions that he is particularly concerned about young, black women who may view Beyoncé’s performances or listen to her music without parental supervision or feedback.

What seems most ironic about O’Reilly’s comments is that many of the lyrics and songs that O’Reilly points out as promoting out of wedlock sex are actually songs that were written by the singer to celebrate sex within a marriage.  It is also ironic that O’Reilly has chosen to focus in on an artist who has been in a relationship with her husband for more than a decade at this point.

In yet another incidence of irony in the segment, one of O’Reilly’s guests, Eboni Williams, also pointed out that the teen pregnancy rate is actually declining and is actually at a historic low after falling by 51 percent in the last two decades.  Although Williams made a valid point, it seemed to be drowned out by O’Reilly’s incessant posturing about how children absorb the messages in media and how Beyoncé’s music is, as he refers to it, libertine in its tone.  This segment is just one more example of how Fox News right wing agenda colors its reporting in ways that make it hard to accept what is being spoken as truth rather than just mere propaganda.