This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 21, 2004 that has been edited for clarity.
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BILL O'REILLY HOST: In the "Impact" segment tonight, the federal government announced perjury charges today against Secret Service ink specialist Larry Stewart (search) in the case of Martha Stewart (search). So it goes on and on. As you know, Ms. Stewart has been convicted of lying and obstructing justice. She will be sentenced on June 17. One of Ms. Stewart's most vocal defenders is Rosie O'Donnell (search) who recently appeared on "The View (search)," a daytime program on ABC. Ms. O'Donnell said that women should unite behind Martha Stewart the same way some blacks united behind O.J. Simpson (search) and Jayson Williams (search).
Well, that didn't sit too well with "View" co-star Starr Jones. Here's how it went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE VIEW")
ROSIE O'DONELL: The black community said you can't have the basketball player, Jayson Williams, can't have him.
(CROSSTALK)
O'DONNELL: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! I'm saying that as a culture, and I agree with it, black people have so few role models that they said, you know what, I don't care, you're not taking them.
STARR JONES: What!
(CROSSTALK)
JONES: There were only two black people on the jury.
(CROSSTALK)
O'DONELL: I'm saying that women do not support other women and the fact that Martha Stewart is a convicted felon, when she founded and started that company, that is the most successful woman in America, is a disgrace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: Wow. With us now, Samantha Ettus, who runs her own public relations and talent firm, and from Asa Khalif, the president of Racial Unity USA (search).
And I want to congratulate Mr. Khalif and tell everybody in America that his organization is now boycotting Reebok for hiring the vile rapper 50 Cent. And, you know, I want to congratulate you, we didn't have you on to talk about this, but I can't tell you how much I respect you and your organization for taking this mantle up in protecting the kids.
All right. Your reaction to Rosie O'Donnell here, sir.
ASA KHALIF: Well, first and foremost, we thank you for the invitation, Bill, and we do congratulate you because you were actually one of the -- and very few individuals in media to stand up against Reebok and their association with a drug dealer who is anti-woman and homophobic as well.
In terms of Rosie O'Donnell, it's a slap in the face to every African-American man and woman who supported Rosie O'Donnell. When she first came out of the closet, we supported her for her character and we just generally embraced her as a wonderful entertainer, and then to paint a race of people with a broad brush and say that we have so few role models that we must flock to the likes of O.J. Simpson who is a despicable individual, and a gentleman who gets drunk and takes a gun and blows someone's chest open and then tries to cover it up, Mr. Jayson Williams, is an absolute disgrace, an outrage.
O'REILLY: Ms. Ettus, how do you see it?
SAMANTHA ETTUS: I think this is not the battle to fight. Rosie O'Donnell is irrelevant in the eyes of the public. Rosie O'Donnell, ever since her talk show ended, became this radicalist. She is radical about every single topic she touches upon, everything she talks about she takes a very radical point of view, and she's lost a lot of public favor. She went from being America's media darling to becoming this radical person that none of her fans like...
O'REILLY: But still, she commands a forum. I mean, millions of people watch "The View" and here she is on there trying to rally support for Martha Stewart by saying, listen, women, even if you don't like her, because she is a woman, you should rally to her cause and then she makes a big mistake, in my opinion, just the way some blacks rally to the cause of O.J. Simpson and Jayson Williams.
Now number one, I don't know any blacks who rally to the cause of Jayson Williams. I don't know any. I do know some did to O.J. Simpson in a misguided way, but isn't this offensive to Mr. Khalif and all other African-Americans who understand that race didn't have anything to do with this kind of a situation?
ETTUS: Rosie doesn't have the power to be offensive. She doesn't have enough people following her anymore to be offensive.
O'REILLY: Come on.
ETTUS: What she said is offensive but to seek an apology from her is probably...
O'REILLY: I'm not seeking an apology, I'm just saying that when these kinds of statements are made we have to challenge them.
ETTUS: Well, Mr. Khalif's group is seeking an apology from Rosie O'Donnell, and I would say that I agree with him that she owes an apology. She owes an apology to the American people. These are the people that allowed her into their homes for days on end, for years on end...
O'REILLY: Yes, but she was entertaining...
ETTUS: ... and suddenly she's turned on them.
O'REILLY: She wasn't...
ETTUS: Rosie O'Donnell owes an apology to America. She was in everyone's home, she was a trusted figure, and she went from the queen of nice to a radical person that....
O'REILLY: All right. I don't think Rosie has to apologize to anybody, but Mr. Khalif, maybe I'm wrong here.
KHALIF: I believe Rosie O'Donnell should apologize not only to the African-American community, but again to America, because Rosie O'Donnell -- it's sad, Bill, that we're even having this discussion in 2004. The issue here now is -- has gone beyond black and white. This is about right and wrong, and when in the heat of battle when you say something that's insensitive and you misspeak, the best thing to do when you have character, and we thought Rosie O'Donnell had character, is to apologize.
O'REILLY: See, I wouldn't apologize, I would explain. So we asked Ms. O'Donnell on the program, but she didn't want to come on. And she has come on in the past, as you know. Because I don't think -- and I have looked at this and looked at this and looked at this, and I want to get your opinion on whether I'm right or wrong here, I don't think she meant it as an insult to black people.
I just think that her thought process was at that point so skewed that she tried to make a point that just was ridiculous. So maybe she should come back on and say, look, I misspoke, I didn't really have a good day thinking, here's what I meant. Wouldn't that be better than just throwing herself on the mercy of the court?
KHALIF: I think that would be really good if Rosie was not so arrogant and stubborn, according to her publicist, Cindy Berger (ph), according to Ms. Berger, Rosie O'Donnell did nothing wrong. So you really cannot apologize if you felt that you did nothing wrong. All I'm asking, and I think all Racial Unity and all America is asking is, Rosie, if you misspoke, have enough character to say, well, this is what I meant...
O'REILLY: All right. That's fair enough and I think Ms. O'Donnell should do it. Now Samantha, you don't think that it's even worth her doing it, because she doesn't have any sway in the USA, right?
ETTUS: Right. This is a woman who build an incredible brand and she has just dumped on it. And as someone who thinks about brands everyday, it almost pains me to think of what she's done...
O'REILLY: But you're - see, she doesn't need the money anymore. So she's just going through life being a bomb-thrower and doing what she wants.
ETTUS: There are so many viewers out there, had her in their homes everyday, had their kids watching with them, supported her causes, and all of those viewers feel like she turned on them, like she was not the person that she said she was for that many years. And so to take on a battle like Rosie O'Donnell, I agree that if she was still a talk show host, this would be a much bigger problem, but there are so many battles to fight and this is probably not ...
O'REILLY: All right. Well, you might be right. But I mean to give Rosie O'Donnell the benefit of the doubt. If she wants to come on here and explain the situation, we would be more than happy to hear it. And I think it would be interesting, I do, I do think she has some cache in this country.
Ms. Ettus, thank you very much. Mr. Khalif, once again, congratulations, and let us know if we can help you out with this Reebok because you're absolutely right, we have got to protect the kids from these 50 Cent and all this other business.
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