Ludacris: The Black Millionaire Blueprint for Success

Pepsi was critized by Fox News’ right-wing commentator Bill O’Reilly for performing the singer in their ads, since he believed it was wrong for an international corporation like Pepsi to target the American teen audience by glamorizing Ludacris, a “gangsta rapper” who admitted having been in gangs and whose lyrics contained profanity, violence and overt sexuality. 

That’s why O’Reilly urged his viewers to complain to and boycott Pepsi for its affiliation with Ludacris, which resulted in Pepsi dropping Ludacris.

That led to Russell Simmons joining the fray. Simmons argued that Pepsi could not legitimately fire Ludacris for being a presumed violent and profane role model while also employing the Osbournes, who were also known for being violent, vulgar and profane. Simmons, along with Ludacris, then called for black people to boycott Pepsi, which resulted in Pepsi  agreeing to help fund black causes, even though the Osbournes were permitted to keep their advertising contracts with the corporation.