The word that Greg Gutfield of Fox News’ hates the Red Hot Chili Peppers has gotten back to the band, and Flea doesn’t seem to have a problem with it. He took a nonchalant approach to the criticism and, as a result, Gutfield appears to have a bit of respect for the bassist, even if he still doesn’t like his music.

Flea was asked about Gutfield’s remarks this weekend during the Reading Festival in England, and began with a shot of his own. “I remember seeing a poll recently that [said] people who watch Fox News knew less about world affairs than people who watch no news at all,” he told NME. “It's clearly a funny program. … I heard that. It's funny. I don't care. They're all welcome to hate us. God bless 'em."

Consequence of Sound found that, today on The Five, Gutfield brought up Flea’s response, saying, “He said that it was great, he thought our show was funny, and it was okay to have your own opinion, and was very happy. I thought this was a really great example of how differences can be solved so easily by simply agreeing with me.”

A discussion ensued among the panel over whether Flea was agreeing with Gutfield — Jesse Watters accused him of picking a fight with the group, while Kimberly Guilfoyle noted that “the ladies love them.” Then Gutfield read Flea’s words and concluded, “God bless you, Flea.”

The silliness started a week and a half ago, when footage of Koko the Gorilla playing Flea’s bass went viral. A few days later, The Five did a story on it, at which point Gutfield said, “The ape is better than Anthony Kiedis” while calling the Chili Peppers, “the worst band on the planet” and “the poor man’s Faith No More.”

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