The King of Cable News joined Glenn on radio today to talk about the film adaptation of his book ‘Killing Jesus’. Glenn and Bill don’t spare punches with one another, and it’s another classic interview from these two cable news giants.
Below is a rush transcript of this interview
GLENN: Bill O'Reilly I believe has more money than God himself now, sold 12 million copies in all formats for the "Killing" series. His obsession with death continues. It's disturbing. But, that's just the way he rolls. And he's on the program now.
O'REILLY: I'm here because I want to be enlightened. Who is that woman who does the voice-over? She sounds like she's from Butan or someplace.
GLENN: She's from Australia. I know that's quite exotic for a man like you.
O'REILLY: It is, very exotic. So I am here to be enlightened, so what do you know, Beck?
GLENN: What is the obsession with death and why do you put it on TV?
O'REILLY: These people we write about link in Patton, Jesus, all influence the planet in a -- planet in a remarkable dramatic way, Jesus being the top of the chart, the most famous human being who has ever lived. So we want to know what happened to them and why it happened.
GLENN: Hold on just a second.
O'REILLY: Elementary and then people are enjoying the series.
GLENN: Hold on. Are you saying that if Jesus were here today, he would be able to run something that says, Jesus Christ, number one for 15 years in a row.
O'REILLY: I think --
GLENN: Out of everywhere shall break?
O'REILLY: He would be number one longer than that, Beck.
PAT: Not much longer.
O'REILLY: Finish the savior. Wouldn't it be interesting, though, if the messiah came today with the mess that this world is in. It was in a mess back then as we show in the movie "Killing Jesus." It was a mess. But boy, this world is in such chaos from top to bottom. Wouldn't it be interesting if he came today?
GLENN: What is the format of this? Is it like a documentary style --
O'REILLY: Feature film. And one of the finest TV movies you'll ever see up there with "Lonesome Dove." Shot in Morocco.
PAT: Is it really?
O'REILLY: It is. $12 million budget. Performances --
PAT: Wow.
O'REILLY: Kelsey Grammer plays Herod. A Muslim, Haaz Sleiman plays Jesus. Rufus Sule, a British actor, plays Kaifus. Just knocks it out of the park. I know you're going to get your popcorn. You're going on the set --
GLENN: May I just tell you this.
O'REILLY: Sure.
GLENN: You know who Mark Burnett is?
O'REILLY: Sure.
GLENN: I'm currently watching the "A.D." series. Mark is sending me the "A.D." series so I can watch it in advance and talk about it if I like it.
O'REILLY: Right.
GLENN: That's the way it usually happens where you get to see in it advance --
(overlapping speakers).
O'REILLY: I thought we sent you a press kit.
GLENN: No, huh-uh.
O'REILLY: Well, look, it's better that you didn't see it so now you have something to look forward to on Sunday.
GLENN: This is what happens. This is what happens.
(overlapping speakers).
O'REILLY: Your Texas neighborhood telling people who you are.
GLENN: This is what happens when people with bad movies come out. They tonight send out -- they don't send out a prerelease.
O'REILLY: That's true. The my other movie, the Bride of Chucky, I didn't send out --
GLENN: Are you going to send it to me?
O'REILLY: Sure, we'll overnight it tonight and you can have your hired help put it in the machine and you can watch it tomorrow. But I'm telling you on Palm Sunday, this is an event. You're going to be very imprested. I'm surprised they didn't send it to you and I will definitely send it to you overnight.
GLENN: Will you fire anybody over it?
O'REILLY: No, Jesus wouldn't.
GLENN: You're not Jesus.
O'REILLY: Can I tell you an interesting story? Do you have enough --
GLENN: If I believed you had an interesting story to share, I would say yes to that.
O'REILLY: Good, I'm assuming that's affirmative. A year ago this time they came to me and they said we have a young actor who just auditioned for Jesus, Haaz Sleiman. Do you know him. I said no. He had done a few things, but not many. They said he's the audition for Jesus but there's a problem. And the problem is that he's a Muslim. Born in Lebanon, raised a Muslim, came to the United States at age 21. Should we hire him. And I said yes. And they said, well, you know, there might somebody blowback. And I said, would Jesus hire him? And it was silent. And so we hired him. It's a good story. It's the kid --
GLENN: So nobody could answer that question. So you still don't know if Jesus would have hired him?
O'REILLY: Well, do you think Jesus would have been prejudicial towards somebody --
GLENN: I don't know. I did not -- I don't know. I'm not Jesus. But I --
O'REILLY: You should know his philosphies, his teachings, he would not have been prejudicial.
GLENN: If that's the world you want to live in.
PAT: He did have a chosen people. I don't know that that's true, Bill. He did pick some over others.
GLENN: He picked 12.
O'REILLY: It was all-inclusive. It was like Club Med. He was all-inclusive.
GLENN: That was Paul who said let's go the Gentiles.
(overlapping speakers).
GLENN: Let's just do this as a Jewish thing. Paul was the expansive one.
O'REILLY: You're watching Burnett's movie, because that's a religious movie. This is a secular movie. This is not a movie -- you don't have to be religious to watch "Killing Jesus". This is based on history and why Jesus was executed. And he wasn't executed for being a religious guy or teaching any kind of spirituality.
GLENN: Okay, can I ask you a question?
O'REILLY: Sure.
GLENN: And this is a serious question. I'm watching Mark Burnett's thing and it's absolutely fantastic because he sent it to me so I would know that it was absolutely fantastic. But it's really, really good. And -- but there is one thing and this is only because I actually went to school. I studied this time period.
O'REILLY: Yes.
GLENN: And they didn't -- they didn't crucify -- like when you see those pictures with the three crosses up there, they would have been much lower to the ground and there of would have been a whole series of crosses because because it was meant as a warning and it was close to the road --
O'REILLY: You're going to love "Killing Jesus"e because it's exactly the way it's portrayed in my film.
GLENN: Excellent. Very good. I wish I would have been able to say that.
O'REILLY: The cross is a key. It's not the traditional cross you see in the Christian churches. It's a T, because the top bar slides down into the stem, which is -- as you mentioned, and very astutely, Beck, as you mentioned was always in the ground as a warning to insurgents. Are you happy now?
GLENN: I had to talk to you to become happy but you had nothing to do with it.
O'REILLY: So you're going to watch this movie on Sunday night and tell everybody to watch it, right?
GLENN: Yes. I mean, you don't tell me what to do.
O'REILLY: No, I'm asking. That was a question.
GLENN: I might. I might consider. What do I get out of it?
O'REILLY: Spirituality, uplift.
GLENN: You said it wasn't a spiritual film.
O'REILLY: All the positives.
GLENN: All right. I'll do it.
O'REILLY: Good.
GLENN: I may not like it. I may not like it. But I'll watch it.
O'REILLY: Wait a minute, now this is serious. If you don't like that movie, I'll come back on Monday and we'll kick it around. I want to know if you don't like and it why.
GLENN: Okay, I'm praying I hate it.
(laughing).
GLENN: Okay, so, Bill.
O'REILLY: Yes.
GLENN: You're on with David Letterman last night.
O'REILLY: Yes, I am.
GLENN: And I got to ask. What is it about you that loves conflict this much? Because I can't stand the guy.
O'REILLY: Yeah, I know, there's a lot of people don't like Letterman. But I won him over. I've been on the program 16 times. I've been on your program about 30. So you're way ahead. I felt that I have to reach an audience that doesn't necessarily watch the Fox News channel. And that going on Stewart, Letterman, the "Today" show, that accomplishes that. So you know, over the years, I've developed a decent relationship with the man.
PAT: Is it not frustrating, though, Bill, at how ill-informed David Letterman --
O'REILLY: Yeah, but he's a comedian, so my expectation is he gives me my say. That's all. I don't really care what he thinks, all right. With all due respect to Dave. Look, he's got his belief system as O'Reilly pointed out, it's not really backed up by much.
PAT: It's nothing.
O'REILLY: He gives me my say. You heard the ovation I got in there. I won over his crowd.
PAT: And you get to mop the floor with him every single time.
O'REILLY: I don't believe that. I think he's -- I think --
PAT: Oh, you -- come on.
O'REILLY: In a way that is provocative and I don't mind answering those questions. As I said in the meantime, I like him now. I'm going to miss him. He's a lot better than come bert. I can't imagine going on Colbert's program.
PAT: Colbert is going to suck.
O'REILLY: He's way out there. And he lives -- all Letterman wants to do is have a laugh or two and he is a left wing guy, okay, fine. But if you're in this business, peck, you got to deal with all kind. There are right wing loons, too, you know that. So you deal with them as they come and you try to be respectful.
GLENN: Let me ask you one for question. I'm doing this show on Grover Norquist tonight.
O'REILLY: I don't know much about him. I know you think that he's Stalin, right? Isn't he --
(laughing).
STU: That's a good summary I would say of the program.
O'REILLY: I don't know much about Grover. I'm sorry that he's in your crosshairs, but I don't know much about him.
GLENN: Maybe you should know something about him.
O'REILLY: Well, you know --
PAT: Maybe you'll do a week called Killing Norquist sometime.
O'REILLY: sold what. How many copies? Eight?
(laughing).
GLENN: You believe that one for me, then.
O'REILLY: Yeah.
GLENN: All right. Bill, always good to talk to you, sir.
O'REILLY: Thanks for having me on, Beck.
GLENN: You bet. God bless. Sunday night, his movie "Killing Jesus" and I haven't seen it--
PAT: I didn't realize --
GLENN: Bill is -- Bill actually cares about quality.
STU: And a $12 million budget for a made for TV --
GLENN: That's solid.
PAT: I thought it was a documentary style thing. Didn't you?
GLENN: I did.
STU: I can't imagine his violent imagery saying violent crosshairs.
GLENN: That's --
STU: As you said, obsessed with death. You said it. And you said it accurately.
GLENN: I think I said it. America heard it. You know what I'm saying.
STU: They did here.
GLENN: There's no pulling that one back. America heard it and they heard the hate and the vitriol coming from Bill O'Reilly. You know what I love? Do you know anybody else that gives him this much crap?
STU: Now, you give it -- no, you give it to each other.
GLENN: I know, but do you know anybody who he takes that from? I don't know anybody else he takes that from.
STU: No, Bill actually likes you for some odd reason. I don't understand it. No one around here understands it. No one else feels that way.
PAT: Scientists are looking into it right now.
GLENN: Wait a minute.
STU: Everyone else feels it's the opposite way.
(overlapping speakers)
GLENN: I thought we were all friends.
STU: I'm just saying around here, this general area.
GLENN: But you're around here.
STU: But you don't know where I'm waving my arms. I'm on the radio.
