Jock Don Imus not sorry enough for Sharpton, CBS or MSNBC
By Damara Popoola
Imus be in trouble
HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 4/9/07 – Radio host Don Imus still has some explaining to do, and apparently MSNBC agrees. The station has decided to suspend its television simulcast of the shock-jock’s morning talk show for two weeks in response to his calling the predominantly black Rutgers women’s basketball team “nappy-headed hos.”
Imus has apologized repeatedly since the incident, but most recently on Rev. Al Sharpton’s syndicated radio program Monday. He didn’t, however, manage to move host Sharpton who, along with the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other black leaders across the country, are calling for Imus to be fired.
In their statement MSNBC said, “[Imus’] dedication — in his words — to change the discourse on his program moving forward, has confirmed for us that this action is appropriate. Our future relationship with Imus is contingent on his ability to live up to his word.”
CBS Radio has joined MSNBC in a two week suspension from its airwaves, where he is on 90 U.S. stations and reaches an estimated 2.5 million people a week.
Popularity aside, NAACP board of directors chairman Julian Bond said it is “past time [Imus’] employers took him off the air.” Bond added, “As long as an audience is attracted to his bigotry and politicians and pundits tolerate his racism and chauvinism to promote themselves, Don Imus will continue to be a serial apologist for prejudices.”
Sharpton echoed similar sentiments on his show Monday when he said, “You have anchormen from network news, you have senators, you have presidential candidates that come on your show. Are we saying that it is acceptable in the middle of these kinds of candidates and anchorman for you to call my daughter a ho?”
To be fair, Imus is known for making risqué off-the-cuff remarks in his show that insults across the board. Imus or his cast have called Colin Powell a “sniffling weasel” and referred to American Indian Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell as “the guy from `F Troop.’” They have also called the New York Knicks a group of “chest-thumping pimps.”
Regardless of Imus’ track record, however, critics argue that in a post-Michael Richard/Mel Gibson world sensitivities are heightened to such volatile speech. Imus himself acknowledged that idea when he said, “Here’s what I’ve learned: that you can’t make fun of everybody, because some people don’t deserve it and because the climate on this program has been what it’s been for 30 years doesn’t mean that it has to be that way for the next five years or whatever because that has to change, and I understand that.” He buffered that statement though by called himself “a good person” who made a bad mistake.
Imus, a longtime nemesis of radio jock Howard Stern, told Sharpton Monday, that “our [show’s] agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far.” At one point when Sharpton suggested Imus may emerge from his scandal unscathed, Imus remarked, “”Unscathed? How do you think I’m unscathed by this? Don’t you think I’m humiliated?”
