O’Reilly Defends Offensive Chinatown Segment: We’re Not Politically Correct

Bill O'ReillyWhite House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassador in Washington DC (Rex Features via AP Images)
Bill O'Reilly White House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011 the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassa... Bill O'Reilly White House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011 the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassador in Washington DC (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Fox host Bill O’Reilly is standing by a tone-deaf segment that aired on his show last week and mocked Asian-Americans, saying in a radio interview Tuesday that “The O’Reilly Factor” is not a “politically correct” show.

O’Reilly told “The Bernie and Sid Show” that he feels the backlash to the controversial “Watters World” segment, in which contributor Jesse Watters interviewed and mocked Asian-Americans on the streets of New York City’s Chinatown, was a coordinated attack by liberal media outlets. Originally, he said, there had been few complaints.

“All of sudden, 36 hours later, we get this barrage,” he said. “And the wording was almost exactly the same from all these left-wing websites, almost exactly the same. So we know it was a coordinated attack.”

O’Reilly said Watters had done what he described as a similar segment in Little Italy the week prior, and that Watters would not be fired for the Chinatown piece just because people live in a “perpetual state of grievance.” He did note that he would have edited the package differently, but said it was “gentle fun.”

“He’s not getting fired,” O’Reilly said. “We are a program that is not politically correct.”

For his part, Watters gave a non-apology last week on Twitter:

h/t Mediaite

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