Aubrey O'Day Calls Hitler & Castro 'Brilliant' Men

O'Day defends calling madmen super-smart

Updated 10:31 AM PDT, Thu, Sep 3, 2009

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Aubrey O'Day lands in hot water for calling dictators smart.

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Former Danity Kane member Aubrey O'Day caused a stir Monday night during a heated debate on FOX News' "The Sean Hannity Show," when she referred to both Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler as "brilliant" men.

"As someone who has met [Castro]… I met him and worked with him while I was in Cuba. I'm not defending his behavior, but in many instances, but I do have to say, I will 100% agree, he's an incredibly brilliant man, he has outlived tons of our presidents," the singer – who visited Cuba during her Semester At Sea program – said on the conservative talk show.

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When the panel raised questions about referring to the polarizing Cuban leader as "brilliant," O'Day said, "I'm sure many murderers are brilliant people."

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"Was Hitler a brilliant man?" Hannity asked O'Day.

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"Listen, I don't condone Hitler one ounce, but yes, he was a brilliant man," she said. "He ran a country and convinced everyone of horrible things."

Following her on-air remarks, O'Day issued a statement to TMZ, clarifying her remarks.

"Murderers and dictators generally are some of the smartest people out there - they just use their brain power for evil purposes. I don't condone any of their evil behavior, but I was asked about their intellectual firepower… and in my opinion you can't have a low IQ and wreck [sic] that much havoc on the world," she said in the statement. "What Hitler succeeded in doing, was deplorable… And I hope we never see such an abusive use of power again."

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