This is a rush transcript from “Hannity,” March 17, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
SEAN HANNITY, HOST: Britney Spears ruffled feathers with the release of her latest music video, “If U Seek Amy,” which, according to many, is laced with X-rated lyrics that become apparent if you listen very, very closely. Let’s take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FEMALE REPORTER: If you seek Amy.
BRITNEY SPEARS, SINGER (singing): Love me, hate me. Say what you want about me. But all of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy.
Love me, hate me. But can’t you see what I see? All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HANNITY: And here to discuss the latest controversy surrounding Ms. Spears, our FOX News Channel’s Jill Dobson. And staying with us is the author of “The Mirror Effect.” Dr. Drew Pinsky is with us.
• Video: Watch Sean’s interview
All right. I must be dense and dumb, because it took me a long time, but once I got it, I was like, “OK, I got it.”
JILL DOBSON, FOX NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I’m dense and dumb, also. I heard the video and then saw the video, and I didn’t the controversy the first time around.
And this is what the Parents’ Television Council, one of the groups of parents that’s really speaking out against this says is the problem. That parents might not catch this, but she says, Melissa Henson from that group says, quote, “Kids are savvier to this kind of thing than adults are.” And when you say the name of the title quickly, it sounds like an obscene phrase to her.
HANNITY: Do you have any doubt this was meant to say that?
DR. DREW PINSKY, AUTHOR, “THE MIRROR EFFECT”: I suspect it is. And really, that’s what we wrote our book about, was that there’s a vulnerable population out there of youth, that they are coming out of destroyed family systems, and they’re looking to the culture for solutions to their problems. And the kind of solutions our culture gives them become more problems.
HANNITY: But you know what I’m afraid of? You go back to Britney’s earlier career, and I don’t know Britney Spears. I could care less. Or Lindsay Lohan or any — Paris Hilton. I’m afraid one of these girls is going to end up dead.
PINSKY: Well, I guarantee. I was predicting Britney’s death for a long time. There was no doubt. I mean, severe bipolar disorder, probably an addictive disease. We don’t know. She has certainly admitted to addiction programs. And she was — she was going to die. She was in a locked-in psychiatric hospital. If for parents hadn’t intervened the way that they did, which rarely happens — you should know that. They need a little tip of the hat for having done so. Parents rarely take the teams advice the way they did. She would be dead, had they not done so.
HANNITY: See, but when are the — we sexualize these girls.
PINSKY: Yes.
HANNITY: Think of her early videos. “Oops,” you know, short skirts, school uniform, midriff. You know, I’m not a prude. I just — my daughter, over my dead body is in one of those music videos.
DOBSON: Right. And from age 15 now, she’s been rewarded. The more sexually, you know, explicit she is, the more attention she gets. And that’s why she continues to do this, and I talked to a “Billboard” editor who said, you know what? That’s why this is climbing the charts. We’ve seen it before. Madonna did it with “Like a Virgin.” And this song is doing it.
PINSKY: Fame has become an — it’s money, obviously. But also fame has become an autonomous motivator for young people for the first time in history. When you interview young people, say, “What do you want to do with your life,” they don’t say, “I want to have a family” or necessarily financial success. “I want to be famous, and I’ll do it at any cost.”
HANNITY: I can say this, and I won’t mention names. I can mention names, you know. I’m saying that to my audience. Tongue in cheek, but, truthfully, I think fame — and I said this a number of times on the air — is not a healthy thing for a lot of people. And I don’t know what it is. It changes them; it goes to their head. They lose their spiritual center. They — they begin to believe the press. They begin to crave it. They become addicted to it.
PINSKY: They do. It does feel good. It’s gratifying in a highly arousing way, and, reality — in fact, the people who seek fame often it is exactly the opposite. They need a simple life. They need genuine interpersonal contact. They need quietness, not arousal, and fame gives them all the opposite…
HANNITY: Some spiritual center?
PINSKY: Spirituality is absolutely part of that. And fame is not giving you any of that.
HANNITY: See, I think that’s the only antidote. I think if you don’t have a belief in God, some way to center yourself in your life…
PINSKY: Well, you’ve got to believe in something higher, bigger than yourself. And if you’re busy building yourself — busy building yourself into something bigger than life, that’s the opposite direction.
DOBSON: I also think fame alienates people. They’re surrounded by “yes men.” Everyone who doesn’t agree with them, including their parents, stands to lose their jobs. Just think, a manager/momager, and that’s why…
HANNITY: A momager?
DOBSON: That’s what we call a mom who’s a manager.
HANNITY: Right. I’m out of the…
DOBSON: Britney had one of those…
HANNITY: You know, I just wonder, you know, where are the parents half the time? Because I never let my kids, you know, involve me in this stuff. Where are — I’m like, “You’re not wearing that. No.”
PINSKY: You’re talking about just the general population? Not the famous ones? Yes.
The general population, the parents are afraid to do parenting. They really are in our country. We’re so affected by our own adolescent experience that we were sort of throwing off the yoke of an oppressive parent group that didn’t understand us. These children today want our involvement, want our guidance. And they’re afraid to do it. We’d rather be their friend. And the parents, they have lots of friends. They need parents.
HANNITY: You agree with that?
DOBSON: Yes, I agree. And I interviewed a group of parents who said, you know, that’s exactly what needs to be done. And that’s why they’re concerned.
HANNITY: All right, guys. Good to see you. Good luck with the book, Dr. Drew. Appreciate it.
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