Who knew the first big political debate of the Obama Administrationwould be between Bill O’Reilly and Jessica Alba. Over Swedishneutrality, no less. Here’s how it all began: On Jan. 20, Foxreporters caught up with Alba at an inaugural party and asked theactress to give an on-camera shout-out to the conservative talk showhost. Alba, turns out, isn’t a fan. “He’s kind of an a-hole,” she toldthem. Later, she tried to turn the tables on reporters by asking themwhat they liked best about Obama. When she didn’t get an answer, Albajoked, “That’s right, be neutral. Be Sweden.” That remark touched offa storm of controversy, with O’Reilly calling Alba a “pinhead” forsupposedly mixing up Switzerland and Sweden. TMZ.com and other websitespiled on, too, calling her “a ditz.” Alba then retaliated on her webpage by posting a link to a Wikipedia article about Swedish neutrality.“She is absolutely correct,” TMZ followed up with a fake apology.“Sweden was a neutral country…60 years ago…. We apologize for notconsidering the political climate of the world in 1942 when wesuggested she may have meant, ‘Be Switzerland.’”
EW is neutral on the issue — like Sweden — but in the interest offostering Obama-inspired unity, we decided to end the debate by goingstraight to the source: We called the Swedish consulate in Los Angelesand asked them who was right, Jessica Alba or Bill O’Reilly and hiscohorts at TMZ. “Sweden was neutral during World War II as well asduring the Cold War,” was the official response. “We are not members ofNATO. We are, however, members of the European Union.”
There you have it, Pop Watchers. Now we can all move onto figuring out how to fix the economy.
She’s right, he’s wrong. Sweden was neutral in World War II and has the longest sustained record of neutrality, dating back to 1814, of any European country. But, since she’s young and pretty, no one will want to give her credit for it. So it will turn into a big thing. “But, but, but that’s not what she meant, blah, blah, blah.” Bottom line: Alba’s right, O’Reilly’s wrong, any way you slice it. And, in any sane society, everyone would admit that and move on.
haha i love how jessica alba is trying to cover up her obvious screw up by claiming she was refering to world war 2. what an idiot
I’m with Ben. Why does the press insist on tearing down beautiful women and dismissing them as dumb? O’Reilly isn’t all-knowing and – even if she had been wrong – he should have acted like a gentleman and let it go. Instead, he proved her right by acting like an asshat! Now who’s dumb? Grown up, sir, and move on.
well, i think she initially probably meant to say Switzerland in lieu of Sweden, but she luckily enough Sweden was also neutral. Because neutrality and Switzerland have been colloquially linked for decades. anyways, i just wish we could have political discourse without calling each other ‘pinhead’ or ‘a-hole’, even though O’Reilly is somewhat…unpleasant.
Here’s my opinion .. I think she probably actually did mean to say Switzerland (because it IS the country most COMMONLY referred to when talking about neutrality), but ‘on the fly’ said Sweden. And then when Bill, TMZ etc started in with the name-calling .. she was able to back herself up with the fact that Sweden has in fact been a neutral country too. The REAL story here is that until Jessica herself pointed out Sweden’s neutrality, none of the “journalists” taking jabs at her had even bothered to verify if she was indeed correct. AND THEY HAD TIME TO CHECK BEFORE MAKING ANY STATEMENTS OR STORIES ABOUT IT!! But no, they simply assumed she was wrong – and yup, pretty much made a$$e$ out of themselves in the process (look even taking jabs after admitting she wasn’t really wrong!). THEY ought to be ashamed of themselves (well TMZ probably for more than just THIS).
I think all this talk about Sweden/Switzerland is just clouding the real issue…that Bill O’****itI’lldoitlive and his unable to think for themselves sycophants are a-holes and hypocrites. Ms. Alba nailed that one.
Sweden might have been *politically* neutral during WWII, but they collaborated with the Nazi’s like crazy (unlike other Nordic countries, like Norway, who had a strong resistance). I find it hard to believe that Jessica Alba would have said Sweden, if she knew anything about history (and if she doesn’t, than she would have said Switzerland). She most likely meant to say Switzerland, and it’s silly that she tried to cover it up… everyone has slip up, just own it.
I agree fancypants – we should be able to discuss these things without resorting to name calling, like 10 year olds!
Sure, Sweden let transit trains carrying German soldiers pass through the country, on their way back to Germany from Norway. But the Norwegian resistance received military training and equipment from Sweden, to fight the Nazis. Also, Sweden was a safe haven for many Jewish refugees, who the Swedish government refused to send back to Germany, despite demands from the Nazis.
Is anyone paying attention to the fact that she told some reporter to “be sweden”. Forget about the historical information and focus on the fact that that’s the lamest comment/comeback I’ve ever heard. If someone told me to “be sweden”. I would’ve told them that they’re a f***ing dork.
Wow, it amazes me how many of you are ganging up on her.
Sweden does have a standing record of neutrality. When the Danish people were helping their Jewish neighbors escape, they helped them get on boats to Sweden. So why are we sitting here bashing their country and a celebrity? Oh, right, you’re all just trying to save face because she paid attention in middle school and you didn’t.
Yeah, not only was Sweden neutral in WWII, but also the Cold War (they didn’t join NATO or the Warsaw Pact). And it wasn’t until the Cold War was over that they joined the EU, and are still out of NATO. So yeah, also neutral.
I’m not taking sides or anything, but….Wikipedia?? Really?? ‘Cuz that’s such a reliable source…at least try & find an actual credible historic page…
Can I just say what I would assume the majority of readers would also like to say about this story? I like Jessica a lot more when she sticks to acting and doesn’t decide to try to get political.
If TMZ was calling me names I wouldn’t even half blink, seriously. worthless garbage and how in the hell do they have a show on TV?? better yet how does O’Righteous-Right-Winger still have a show?
I’m not a fan of Alba’s by any stretch, but she isn’t wrong. Wikipedia may not be the most valid source to prove a point but it is often backed up with actual sources! Isn’t a good thing when young people are showing passion for politics? This actually makes me respect Alba.
Once again, Bill O’Reilly with the self-pwn. Idiot.