Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro denounced Lady Gaga calling her a “slut”. While speaking at the Tackling Youth Substance Abuse program, Molinaro pointed at a picture of Gaga lighting up a marijuana spliff at a concert in Amsterdam (see above video). The poster board had the legend “Stop glorifying drug use in the media.”

He stated “Also, we have to understand that there’s a tremendous influence with our youth, which I didn’t have as a youth. And there’s the influence right there.” He went on to say “There’s Gaga. Here’s this … this … I would call her a slut. This slut is influencing many, many children … and it’s right to do. It’s fine, it’s part of it. My niece has two daughters, 12 and 14, [and] they love this woman. Why? Why?”

He also attacked the media saying “So, we have a job to do also with these actresses, actors, ballplayers. They use drugs as if it’s nothing. We shouldn’t praise them. We shouldn’t honor them. We should really hit them. We should hit the sponsors that she has … where her millions of dollars come [from]. To me, she’s not an actress, she’s a slut … in the pure meaning of the word.”

Molinaro spoke at the beginning of the event which was meant to highlight the efforts of public and private groups to combat the prescription pill epidemic hitting Staten Island. Molinaro’s son died of a drug overdose in 2006 after a short-term rehabilitation program failed to break his addiction.

Molinaro stated “I remember many days my son crying in my arms — ‘Help me.’ That’s why I say prevention is the best cure. What we’re doing here today is alerting the moms, the dads, the children.”