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‘A Hoax for a Reason’: Chuck D Claims that Flavor Flav Being Fired from Public Enemy Was a Trick to Get People’s Attention

It was all a ploy to get people’s attention.

That’s what Chuck D now is saying about his announcement in March that Flavor Flav had been fired from their group Public Enemy.

Chuck D (L) said Flavor Flav (R) wasn’t really fired from Public Enemy and it was all a ploy. (Photo: Joseph Okpako/WireImage via Getty Images)

“I’m not saying it’s a hoax. I’m saying the original intention was to get your attention,” said Chuck on Talib Kweli‘s “People’s Party” podcast, which posted to YouTube Tuesday, March 31.

Chuck also talked about his tricky maneuver earlier in the interview and said it was inspired by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio show “The War of the Worlds.”

“This whole thing of bad news is the news … When the f–k does the good look get f—–g acknowledged, ’cause the bad look got an elevator man and a rocket to it,” he explained.

“I like watching old s–t on YouTube, and I stumbled again for the 15th time on Orson Welles’ ‘War of the Worlds,’ and a couple of sparks happened,” added Chuck. “But then I don’t like to pull no f—–g bulls–t on people, don’t trick and fool the people. But the f—— level of tricknology coming through gadgets is [at] an all-time high, especially in the art form I’m in.”

Chuck’s interview comes at the same time his group Enemy Radio, made up of himself, DJ Lord, Jahi and the SW1s, released a new album titled “Loud Is Not Enough.” They dropped a new single called “Food As a Machine Gun” as well, which features Flavor.

Chuck released a statement about the new music too, where he once again admitted that Flavor being fired from Public Enemy wasn’t real.

“The HOAX was a hoax for a reason,” he wrote. “I was tired of bulls–t. Tired of Hip Hop always getting a bad look as its only narrative while the good news never made the news … had me SMDH coming into 2020. Thus came the HOAX. A wake-up call.”

“I had watched Orson Welles’ ‘War Of The Worlds’ from 1938 when he pulled the wool over the public’s eyes as they put 100% belief in the technology of radio,” added Chuck. “Most people followed like a Pavlovic dog just like they do now.” 

Talk of Flavor being terminated came in February after Enemy Radio announced it was scheduled to play at a Bernie Sanders political rally in Los Angeles. Flavor sent a cease-and-desist letter to Sanders’ campaign for his “unauthorized likeness, image and trademarked clock.”

Through a statement, Chuck said that Public Enemy would be “moving forward” without Flavor, who then responded and said he can’t be fired because he’s Chuck’s partner, not his employee.

In his March 10 interview with Talib Kweli, he shared that he and Flavor would be taking over April 1, April Fools’ Day, and that it would be April Flav-Chuck Day.

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