Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson recently interviewed rapper and actor Ice Cube during a tour of the performer’s childhood neighborhood in South Central Los Angeles.
Born O’Shea Jackson Sr., Ice Cube explained why he never took the COVID-19 vaccine, turning down an opportunity worth more than $9 million.
“It was a six-month rush job. I didn’t feel safe,” Ice Cube said.
“But they told you you were safe,” Carlson added.
“I know what they said. I heard them. I heard them loud and clear,” the rapper continued. “But it’s not their decision. There’s no repercussions if they’re wrong, but I get all the repercussions if they’re wrong.”
“It wasn’t a tough call,” Ice Cube added. “I wanted to be an example for my kids. Really make sure they won’t take it, either. Show them that I wanted to stand on my convictions and that I was willing to lose $9 million and more.”
Ice Cube showed Carlson the “tougher neighborhood” of his youth, lamenting the politicians who he said never helped improve the area.
“This is the block I grew up on. It pretty much looks the same. [There] used to be more trees. Every house had a tree in front of it and at some point the city starting cutting the trees out. They said that the [police] helicopters couldn’t see people, so they starting cutting the trees out,” Ice Cube told Carlson.
“Politicians only really pay attention to the people who give them money. Everybody else is kind of extra,” Ice Cube added.
The rapper said he doesn’t “believe in politicians” because “politicians have hidden agendas.”
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“They owe a lot of people a lot of favors. The more money you give them, the more you’re listened to,” he continued.
Ice Cube admitted he’s had hope tied to politicians before, including former President Barack Obama.
“But then you look around, years go by, and not much changed for people I know. People I care about,” Ice Cube said. “At the end of the day, it’s still the same results.”
Carlson asked Ice Cube if Black Lives Matter – which received hundreds of millions of dollars in donations in the wake of George Floyd’s death in police custody – improved the neighborhood the rapper grew up in.
“Whenever you do that, most of the time there’s a lot of people siphoning that money off the top. The kicker is a lot of people say they’re going to give the money, but they don’t even give the money,” Ice Cube said with a laugh. “They just get the article wrote, everybody think they’re great, and then they never even give the money.”
