Local podcaster MacG addressed the backlash his interview with Ari Lennox received on the latest episode of “Podcast and Chill”.
Last week the controversial media personality landed in hot water after a clip from an interview with the “Pressure” singer went viral after he asked the star a very personal question.
In the video, MacG asked Ari what inspired one of her earlier singles, “Pop” and said “and where are we at right now, is someone f****** you good right now?”.
A visibly shocked Ari leaned into the camera and shouted, “Oh my God …whoa there!”
After this, Ari, in a now-deleted Twitter post, said that she was never doing interviews again.
Addressing the matter, MacG said the video clip was from an old interview from 2021 and that it was her record label that reached out to him to do it.
“Her record label but they called our producers they were like ’yo we looking for an interview with Ari Lennox’.
“So I’m like who’s Ari Lennox? I didn’t know her. I don’t know her music you know what I mean? And they were like she’s that girl that did the track with Nasty (C).”
MacG then asked her label if South Africans, including his stans the Chillers, were familiar with her music, and the label assured him they were.
He agreed to the interview and when the time she would be available was proided, MacG did some research about her music and ended up watching her Tiny Desk performance.
He mentioned that watching her openly sing about sex along with being sexually liberated was something he had in common with Ari.
His co-host, Sol Phenduka, said that MacG’s question about “who’s f****** you good right now” left her “shook” and it was after she was tagged on the clip on Twitter that things went left.
MacG goes on to mention that there were other parts of the interview that were removed but her label gave the green light to keep that question in the video and to recap everything that happened.
As the conversation continued, Sol mentioned to MacG that his question lacked context with the way it was phrased since he only mentioned the song the question inspired afterwards.
Furthermore, MacG stated that since Ari “glorifies her sexuality” it was his entry point for the question.
The news of his interview with the “Up Late” singer made international headlines and was a topic of discussion of fellow controversial shock jock and podcaster Charlamagne tha God on “The Breakfast Club”.
In a clip from the episode discussing the Ari vs MacG situation the “Brilliant Idiots” host said: “Well, you know, I love watching young media personalities attempt to figure it out, you know, and one thing I won't do is judge MacG, because, you know, I at one point was, was a MacG.
“I was one of those young boys like that, so I would rather counsel, counsel to man instead of cancel him.
“And this is a teachable moment for young media personalities. I didn't hear the whole context of the conversation. I just heard that part, so I don't know how they got to that question.”
Charlamagne goes on to agree with Sol’s statement that context and the way the question was phrased was part of the problem with MacG’s question.
“But let me be the first to tell you it's not what you say, but how you say it. And I feel like if it's based off something an artist said in a song it’s fair game, but the delivery still has to be correct.
“And as a 43-year-old man, I would rather the woman in the room ask a question like that, right?”