GREEN & GLOVER: Playing the name game with Ludacris

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By Stephanie Green and Elizabeth Glover

We couldn't help but poke a little fun at the name of the host organization at the Ludacris Foundation dinner Saturday so we asked rap artist Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, why the Ludacris Foundation? Why not the Ridiculous Foundation, or the Absurd Foundation?

"That's not my name!" he laughed. "What do you mean? What are you talking about? It's the Ludacris Foundation!"

So it was a very conscious decision to leverage the Ludacris brand? "Absolutely," said Mr. Bridges. "With my power, influence and celebrity, as it grows so will the amount of people we can help and reach back to." The Ludacris Foundation conducts a myriad of high-profile philanthropic efforts such as giving away 20 cars to needy individuals in Atlanta to provide transportation to and from their jobs.

During his remarks at the National Press Club Friday, Mr. Bridges joked that he planned to run for president one day. He assured us that he was, in fact, joking, when he made that comment.

But he does have something in common with the White House — a history of spats with Fox News. Fox News personality Bill O'Reilly has criticized Mr. Bridges for his controversial rap lyrics. So we wondered what the rapper thought of the White House recent ban on Fox.

"I feel like I'm here for my foundation event today and it's about a positive event and I feel like I don't have to talk about spatting with anybody right now because I'm talking about trying to bring people together to do some positive things."

Enough said, Mr. Bridges. Perhaps you should reconsider that run for office. You've already demonstrated that you can stay on message.