In Hannity’s America, Discussing Masturbation With Playboy Model Is News

The other big star at Fox News besides the usual hosts we write about here (Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck) would be Sean Hannity, who’s ratings each night make him the #2 or #3 cable news host on television.

Last night on his Great American Panel, he featured FNC regular and longtime Democratic strategist Bob Beckel, right-wing regular Erick Erickson of RedState.com…and Playboy cover model and “singer” Aubrey O’Day. The conversation, inevitably, moved to masturbation.

First some background: for those unfamiliar with O’Day, she’s a former member of P. Diddy’s female pop group, Danity Kane – she’s about five steps below Lady Gaga and one step above Heidi Montag. For those unfamiliar with why she’s featured on Fox News during prime time, we’re not too sure.

But despite confused glances from Beckel and Erickson throughout the lengthy segments, O’Day was well spoken and knowledgeable, especially when discussing a recent UN report on sex education guidelines (yes, somehow two separate stories related to sexual practices of five-year-olds were on cable news yesterday).

But the highlight of the back-and-forth took place later in the show, when Beckel and Erickson joked about the “masturbation of five-year-olds” and “Playboy covers” and O’Day turned the tables on the boys. “You boys never wondered what you were doing and wished to be educated about it earlier than you were, are you going to sit up there and tell me that?” she asked.

“I didn’t have a clue about any of this stuff until I was much older,” said Hannity. (As much as we’re surprised to admit this, Hannity’s comment does pretty much prove O’Day’s point, right?)

It is stunt guesting like this that you just don’t see on the rest of Fox News (well, maybe rarely on O’Reilly). So for that, it makes the program that much more interesting. But it is at least a bit jarring seeing ultra-conservative Sean Hannity introducing someone on his “Great American Panel” while a fullscreen image of a Playboy cover is shown.

Here’s the Great American Masturbation Segment:

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