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Many people outside of the Hip-Hop culture love rap music or just random rap songs, but sometimes they forget that that doesn’t entitle them to spit the lyrics word-for-word if they’re not actually a part of the urban community.
A Barstool Sports host learned that lesson the hard way. He ended up losing his job after reciting the lyrics to the classic Bone Thugs-N-Harmony cut, “1st of tha Month,” which contained a racial slur that white folk don’t have the pass to say. According to The Daily Beast, Ben Mintz found himself unemployed after the higher ups caught wind of the incident. They didn’t want to deal with any of the backlash that would come from keeping him onboard after the slip-up.
Taking to Twitter to announce the termination of Mintz from Barstool Sports, company founder Dave Portnoy explained how the incident unfolded during the livestream. He recognizes that Mintz didn’t intentionally spew the slur as he was reading the lyrics right off his phone. Portnoy said he fought “tooth and nail” to keep Mintz on the show. Still, the higher ups at Penn Entertainment felt that they didn’t want to deal with any of the controversy or fallout from the incident and decided to give Ben Mintz his walking papers.
From the Daily Beast:
“I hate the decision. I disagree with the decision,” Portnoy told the New York Post. He said Penn’s decision was informed by fears that not doing so could imperil the company’s gambling licenses. “I would not have made the decision,” Portnoy added. “But I don’t deal with the things Penn deals with in terms of state regulators etc.”
Mintz took to Twitter to apologize for the incident saying he “never felt worse about anything” and that he was “truly sorry & ashamed of myself.”
Given the state of America these days, Ben Mintz could still run for President and possibly win when it’s all said and done. That’s to say, he’ll be okay.
What do y’all think of Ben Mintz losing his gig over reciting a rap lyric? Was it just or an overreaction? Let us know in the comments section below.