Straight Outta Compton was a massive success both critically and commercially, debuting at the top of the box office and doubling its $30 million budget with its first-week ticket sales. The numbers exceeded the expectations of many, but CNN anchor Ashleigh Banfield was not only surprised at the film's success but that there were no violent outbreaks that resulted from the its opening. She and CNN ran the headline, "HIP-HOP FILM HAD LONG LINES, NO VIOLENCE," to which hip-hop personality and Breakfast Club co-host, Charlamagne Tha God, took great offense to. He bestowed Banfield with the ultimate mark of shame, naming her and the rest of CNN the "The Donkey of the Day."
After speaking on the film's successful opening, Banfield welcomed Cedric Alexander, CNN law enforcement analyst and member of President Obama's task force on 21st century policing and asked him if he saw a correlation between the lack of violence at the film's screenings and the heightened security some theaters have chosen to employ. Alexander responded by saying he thought said theaters made the right choice because of the film's anti-police message, though he added that the lack of violence pointed to an improving climate between the police and the citizenry. Alexander was a police officer at the time when N.W.A. released "F*ck the Police," a song and message he finds highly offensive, though he understands the group's anger that led to the song's creation.
Charlamagne was not so much offended by Banfield's discussion with Alexander but rather CNN's headline and their seeming surprise that the film's debut was marked by success instead of violence. The last two shootings at movie theaters have occurred at screenings of Trainwreck just over a month ago and The Dark Knight Rises in July 2012 when 12 people were killed and 70 were injured. Thus, he wondered why CNN was surprised that no shootings occurred at Straight Outta Compton screenings but not, for example, those of Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation, also currently in theaters.
The answer, he says, is because "They felt like a movie filled with black hip-hop guys was gonna attract more black hip-hop guys, and in the eyes of CNN, black hip-hop guys are prone to violence."
He then suggests that CNN should be running headlines such as: "Black woman got pulled over for an improper lane signal and didn't get dragged out of the car and slammed to the ground," of course referring to the opposite of what allegedly happened to Sandra Bland last month.
Charlamagne admits that it might not be shocking enough that a police officer treats a black person according to his or her constitutional rights to run a headline about it, but tells CNN that their Straight Outta Compton headline is just as, if not more, misleading: "Don't expect the worst from us and expect me not to expect the worst from you."
Banfield joins past recipients of the award like Meek Mill and Funk Flex, both dishonored for their social media buffoonery.
