Clash of the Titans: Sarah Palin vs. LL Cool J

Fox News and the 'NCIS: Los Angeles' star are having a war of words

By HitFix Staff Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010 11:14 AM

LL Cool J

Credit: AP

When it comes to public celebrity kerfuffles, Sarah Palin and LL Cool J are two personalities you wouldn't necessarily expect to be dusting it up, but the rapper and the former Alaska governor are in the midst of a little awkwardness.

On Tuesday, Fox News was proudly promoting the first installment of the Palin-hosted "Real American Stories," boasting that the premiere would feature guests including Toby Keith, Jack Welch and LL Cool J.

Unfortunately, one person who wasn't so proud with his involvement was James Todd Smith.

On his Twitter feed, LL carped, "Fox lifted an old interview I gave in 2008 to someone else & are misrepresenting to the public in order to promote Sarah Palin's Show. WOW."

So really, LL Cool J's beef is with Fox News and not with Sarah Palin at all. But really, can you blame Fox News? After all, Ladies love Cool James.

However, Fox News has now removed the LL Cool J segment from the Thursday (April 1) special and issued a derisive statement to Media Bistro's TVNewser blog.

"Real American Stories features uplifting tales about overcoming adversity and we believe Mr. Smith's interview fit that criteria," a spokesperson tells TVNewser. "However, as it appears that Mr. Smith does not want to be associated with a program that could serve as an inspiration to others, we are cutting his interview from the special and wish him the best with his fledgling acting career."

If you're curious, LL Cool J's "fledgling acting career" dates back to "Krush Groove" in 1985. His credits include "Halloween H20," "S.W.A.T.," "Deep Blue Sea," "Any Given Sunday," "Charlie's Angels" and the long series run of "In the House." He currently stars in "NCIS: Los Angeles," the season's most watched new program.

We eagerly await LL Cool J's response, hopefully in battle-rap form.

His latest tweet? "Nobody can bring you peace but yourself."

Probably unrelated.

Related Searches: LL Cool J, Sarah Palin, Fox News, Real American Stories

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E. VanDeven

Now I understand the comment made on NCIS last night, referencing Sara Palin. I found it to be childish and unprofessional and now I really find it childish and unprofessional. We watch NCIS all the time and have always respected the professionalism of content and of the actors. I guess Hollywood just can't help themselves, what a shame.
March 31, 2010 at 1:29PM EST Reply to Comment
- dan E. VanDeven - TV shows are not performed live. Any comments about Sarah Palin on last night's "NCIS: Los Angeles" were written many many months before any of this Fox News/LL/Palin stuff happened, especially since last night's "NCIS: Los Angeles" was a repeat anyway. -Daniel
  March 31, 2010 at 1:44PM EST
- Erin Really? So you respect NCIS:Los Angeles (a fictional scripted drama) for its professionalism of content, but Fox News gets a pass when it promotes old interviews as "guests" on a premiere of one of its news (factual portrayal of events) programs? Sorry, the term guest on a news program implies a person who is interviewed by the host for that program, which Fox News knows. And calling LL Cool J's acting career "fledgling" and stating he doesn't want to be associated with an "inspirational" program shows Fox News can be childish, too. Maybe if Fox News had acted professionally in the first place and actually ASKED their "guests" if they wanted their interviews used on the show, this flap could have been avoided.
  March 31, 2010 at 7:38PM EST
craigcp

LL was replace by Toby Keith, but they use an old interview from Fox News. And before you bash Toby, it may interest you to know that Toby is a Democrat.
http://washingtonscene.thehill.com/in-the-know/36-news/3173-toby-keith-a-democrat-also-surprised-to-be-included-in-palins-fox-news-show-
April 5, 2010 at 5:16PM EST Reply to Comment