Bill O'Reilly responds to Lennon telling him to shut up by openly declaring himself to be evil and basically saying it's his job to shout at people. Becomes a little more awkward since Fox News fired O'Reilly in April 2017 after multiple sexual harassment allegations.
Billy Mays vs Ben Franklin
In-universe, Ben Franklin jokes that the battle's going to mark the Death of a Salesman. Just after he starts his second verse, Billy Mays kicks the bucket.
Mr. T vs Mr. Rogers
This battle has Mr. T implying Mr. Rogers to be a sexual predator immediately after comparing his manner of dress to that of Bill Cosby. For obvious reasons, this is a somewhat more uncomfortable connection in the years since.
Steve makes some innuendo-filled jabs at Bill Gates such as claiming that he makes "the GUI that Melinda uses" and making a penis joke over the Microsoft name. After stories such as Melinda divorced Bill Gates, his history with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein coming to light and him having an inappropriate relationship with a Microsoft employee came to light, these jokes are a lot sleazier than intended.
Michael Jordan vs Muhammed Ali
Jordan's shot at Ali's Parkinson's disease is this after the real Muhammed Ali died of septic shock as a result of his worsening conditions in 2016.
Terminator vs Robocop
This battle referenced the disappointment that was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and said battle ended with an ad for Terminator Genisys, released around the time of the release of the video, complete with a brief cameo from Arnold himself. Then the critical and box office results of Genisys came in and, well, let's just say that it seems that Terminator 3 will have to share its place as most disappointing Terminator movie.
Eastern Philosophers vs Western Philosophers
The Western philosophers calling the Eastern philosophers "East infections" and Sun Tzu's line "Asians spitting sick, but no, this isn't SARS" seem a lot more uncomfortable nowadays after the wake of 2020.
Stan Lee vs Jim Henson
Jim Henson mentions how "the Four will always be Fantastic". The Fantastic Four reboot, which premiered a few days after the battle, turned out to be disappointing. Of course, this could instead be Hilarious in Hindsight depending on your viewpoint.
Henson's line about how the Hulk will always be incredible becomes a bit cringe-worthy considering how the later rap battle with the Hulk himself ended up being one of the most divisive in the series, with the highest dislike percentage out of all the raps. It could also be seen as Hilarious in Hindsight considering that many viewers of that battle thought the Hulk won — he was, indeed, still incredible.
As of 2018, Peter and Lloyd have left the Disney-owned Maker Studios, due to wanting more creative freedom over their series, and if "Nice Peter vs EpicLLOYD 2" is of any indication, they probably also left due to the stress and pressure brought on by their schedule, which is reflected in Season 6 having monthly releases rather than biweekly ones. Going back and watching Disney singing about Henson and Lee having to "stay busy" and being told to "get back to work", one could infer that they weren't just criticizing Disney for their tendency to buy out other companies and properties, but were also venting about the potential stress brought upon them by higher ups at the company. By 2023, this is no longer speculation; in a comment on the ERB subreddit, Peter confirmed that he and Lloyd had indeed been overworking themselves while at Maker Studios and even after, which is why the gaps between battles post-COVID are now several months long as opposed to a month or a few weeks.
George R. R. Martin vs J. R. R. Tolkien
Martin boasts about his show being the "hottest thing on H.B.O". As noted by many commenters, this line really hasn't aged well, since the final season of GOT saw a steep decline in quality to the show that made most of its fans denounce it as a potential Franchise Killer. Especially with further hindsight that, by the time the battle dropped, Martin had already cut creative ties with the show over what are now understood as growing irreconcilable Creative Differences with the showrunners. Boasting purely about the show and his pride in it was already inaccurate when the match dropped.
Nice Peter vs EpicLLOYD 2
This battle ends with them fake-cancelling the show, only for the show to later on actually go on an indefinite hiatus. Season 6 was eventually confirmed for spring 2019, however.
Lloyd mocks Peter for smoking weed, and also assumes his obsessive behavior stems from being on "on two beers and a pill and a half of Adderall." Peter would later reveal that he actually did have a serious problem with drug and alcohol use, partly to keep him working so hard on ERBOH, leading to a Creator Breakdown around Season 6. The lack of consistent uploads in the 2020s was due to him getting sober and not setting the tight deadlines that triggered his addictions, which he luckily did overcome.
Ronald McDonald vs The Burger King
Ronald calls himself "Ronald Jeremy" because he's "getting nasty". A year later, Ron Jeremy was charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.
George Carlin vs Richard Pryor
This battle made several Take That! attacks at Bill Cosby for his many sexual assault allegations and, at the time, conviction. Then, come 2021, he got Off on a Technicality and released early, charges against him voided.
Elon Musk vs Mark Zuckerberg
In his opening lines, Musk mocks Facebook as a place where people find out their relatives are racist. Musk later bought out Twitter and was criticized for his controversial statements and actions, such as restoring the account of Neo-Nazi Andrew Anglin.
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