Disgraced talk show host wants name cleared as much as the money, observers say
By Jeffrey Jolson

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 5/3/07 — Don Imus is suing CBS Radio for more than $40 million. He is suing for vindication, according to a media expert, who said “(Imus) wants his name cleared.”

The former talk show host hired one of the country’s top First Amendment trial lawyers to sue CBS for firing him over racial and sexual on-air comments. But Imus points out his contract calls for “irreverent” and “controversial,” and his “nappy-headed ho” remark was certainly that.

Attorney Martin Globus would sue for breach of contract on the rest of Imus’ $40 million contract, but it will be about more. “If this is settled by CBS or goes to court, it would be perceived as a vindication for Imus,” said author and media expert Michael Levine. “More than the $40 million, he wants his name cleared.”

Garbus cited a contract clause where CBS acknowledged that Imus’ services were “unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial.” The clause said Imus’s programming was “desired by company and … consistent with company rules and policy,” said Garbus, whose clients have run from comic Lenny Bruce to filmmaker Spike Lee.

Moreover, sources said, the contract had a clause that required CBS to give him a warning before termination over content, which CBS apparently did not do in the heat of the controversy.

Imus was about three months into the five-year deal with CBS when he was booted from both MSNBC and CBS. The CBS deal was his core contract, MSNBC ran the TV version, so it remains to be seen how they would be pulled into the suit, expected next week.

Imus was fired during a media storm that erupted following Rev. Al Sharpton’s refusal to accept Imus’ apology for making the remarks about the Rutger’s womens basketball team. Some observers questioned why Sharpton was able to choose which words that black and white performers commonly use were caustic enough for firing, but it was too late, Imus was pulled from the airwaves. Even Whoopi Goldberg joined in the chorus for his firing over the ho comment, but did not mention her production company is called One Ho Productions. “It doesn’t matter if it’s a double standard,” Whoopi Goldberg said on The Today Show. “He made an incredibly bad faux pas and he’s got to take the heat for it.”

Issues of double standards in language and free speech are likely to be brought up anew as the lawsuit shines a new spotlight on the incident and its aftermath.