( CNN ) -- Fox News host Bill O'Reilly says his review of famed Harlem restaurant Sylvia 's is being taken out of context and was not racist . Fox News host Bill O'Reilly says his comments about a Harlem restaurant have been taken out of context . On his September 19 radio show , O'Reilly said he took civil rights leader Al Sharpton to the Lenox Avenue fixture and `` could n't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia 's Restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City . '' `` I mean , it was exactly the same , even though it 's run by blacks , primarily black patronship , '' he told listeners . `` It was the same , and that 's really what this society 's all about now here in the U.S.A . There 's no difference . '' And later , speaking with National Public Radio correspondent and Fox analyst Juan Williams , O'Reilly said there `` was n't any kind of craziness at all '' during his dinner with Sharpton : `` There was n't one person in Sylvia 's who was screaming , 'M.F.-er , I want more iced tea . ' `` `` It was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense that people were sitting there and they were ordering and just having fun , '' he continued . Watch reaction to O'Reilly 's comments » . The comments , part of a broader discussion on the persistence of prejudice in American society , were circulated by Media Matters for America , a left-leaning media watchdog group that has been highly critical of O'Reilly . Other media organizations then picked up the comments . But on his Fox News television program Tuesday night , O'Reilly said the remarks were being distorted . `` Anybody who listened to it ... would , I think , have appreciated the discussion for being an exposition of why people are afraid not only of blacks but of everybody they do n't know , '' he said . Elsewhere in the September 19 program , O'Reilly said he was trying to reassure whites -- such as his grandmother , whom he said had an `` irrational fear '' of blacks -- that rap-star stereotypes of African-Americans `` are not true . '' `` This is what white America does n't know , particularly people who do n't have a lot of interaction with black Americans , '' he said . `` They think the culture is dominated by Twista , Ludacris and Snoop Dogg . '' Williams defended O'Reilly during O'Reilly 's Tuesday night show . He said portraying O'Reilly 's comments as racist was `` rank dishonesty . '' `` It 's outrageous , because the discussion we had was about how too often the images on TV are these rappers glorifying drugs , glorifying violence , degrading women , '' Williams said . But Suzan Johnson Cook , a former Clinton administration official , said O'Reilly sounded surprised that a black crowd was so civil . `` Was he expecting people to be jumping all over the place ? '' she said on CNN 's `` Out in the Open '' on Tuesday . `` It 's very sad that , in 2007 , a man who influences so many people , number one , has that kind of ignorance , who has not been exposed to our culture . '' And Sharpton , who is scheduled to appear on O'Reilly 's television program Wednesday night , said he has had dinner with the voluble host twice . He told CNN that O'Reilly `` said nothing at dinner that time or the time before that was offensive to me . '' `` I do n't know the whole context of it , '' he said . `` What I 've read was certainly not complimentary . And I think that if I said that -- anything halfway like that -- about other races , people would not take it as complimentary and they 'd jump all over me -- probably some of his colleagues at Fox . `` But at the same time , I 've been quoted out of context , '' he continued . `` That 's why I want to ask him what was the context . '' Sharpton said he was already scheduled to appear on O'Reilly 's program to discuss the `` Jena 6 , '' the black Louisiana teens charged with beating a white classmate amid racial tensions in a small town . `` I happen to think the future of the criminal justice system is a little more important than me and Bill O'Reilly having dinner in Harlem , '' he said . In a written statement , Bill Shine , Fox 's vice president for programming , added , `` This is nothing more than left-wing outlets stirring up false racism accusations for ratings . It 's sad . '' E-mail to a friend .
Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly says his comments about restaurant were distorted . The incident occurred at a White House Correspondents' Dinner in Washington on April 26. O'Reilly visited famed restaurant Sylvia 's with civil rights leader Al Sharpton . Sharpton : O'Reilly `` said nothing at dinner ... that was offensive to me ''