Al Sharpton trying to get his pound of flesh

[Midnight Mike]

Imus set for Sharpton's radio show
08-April

Don Imus will appear on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show Monday, five days after Imus made racially charged comments on his own show about the Rutgers women's basketball team, Sharpton and MSNBC announced Sunday.

Despite Imus' scheduled appearance, Sharpton said his position was unchanged: He wants Imus fired and intends to write the Federal Communications Commission about the matter.

"Somewhere we must draw the line in what is tolerable in mainstream media," Sharpton said Sunday. "We cannot keep going through offending us and then apologizing and then acting like it never happened. Somewhere we've got to stop this."

The Rev. Jesse Jackson said his RainbowPUSH Coalition plans to protest Monday in Chicago outside the offices of NBC, which owns MSNBC, over the remark Imus made last Wednesday during his show.

Imus said members of the mostly black Rutgers University women's basketball team were "nappy-headed hos."

The team, which includes eight black women, had lost the day before in the NCAA women's championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on the show, which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and the MSNBC television network.

"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ... ."

"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.

Jackson said protests are being planned across the country.

"If he has a right to use that platform to insult and degrade then we have a moral obligation to picket NBC and to protest," Jackson said. "If he can violate us in that platform in the name of free speech we'll be picketing NBC in the name of free speech."

James E. Harris, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded Sunday that Imus "resign or be terminated immediately."

Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for MSNBC, which simulcasts "Imus in the Morning," said the network considers Imus' comments "deplorable" and is reviewing the matter.

Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio, Imus' employer and the owner of WFAN-AM, said the company was "disappointed" in Imus' actions and characterized his comments as "completely inappropriate."

Imus, who has not been publicly disciplined, apologized on the air Friday.

"It was completely inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry," Imus said, according to a transcript on MSNBC's Web site.

[Matt Molnar]

With the Don Imus appearance, Sharpton's radio show is forecast to break its previous ratings record of 6 people listening simultaneously.

Honestly, though, this is a rare instance where I think Sharpton's reaction to an incident is justified. Imus and others on his show have made similarly racist remarks periodically over the years. Others on the show, most notably Sid Rosenberg a few years ago, have been fired for their comments, yet Imus has been allowed to stay on board. If he's not fired, I really hope the stream of politicians and A-list media-types that routinely appear on Imus begins to dry up along with his ad sales.

[hiss srq]

Imus was wrong but being fired over this? No..... This is radio, freedom of speach and I think if we wanted to go that far I could think of some people from the radio station 97.1 that need to be canned as well for racially charged comments made every day as far as stereotypes etc go.

[Midnight Mike]

Don Imus taking his lumps

http://wcbstv.com/video/[email protected]

[moose135]

Imus was wrong but being fired over this? No..... This is radio, freedom of speach

Whatever his employers do, it has nothing to do with freedom of speech. Once again, Freedom of Speech only pertains to the government restricting what one is able to say. If a private employer wants to fire someone for comments they make, it's not a freedom of speech issue. I assure you, if I publicly made the kind of statements he made while representing my employer, I would find myself out on the street in short order. It's time Imus grows up - his routine stopped being funny long ago.

[Tom_Turner]

Imus is an idiot. He probably should be fired for this ****.

And, yes, it goes without saying that the vile racist comments coming across whatever the black hate radio in New York is these days goes unremarked. As do Jesse Jackson's and Al Sharpton's racist comments of the past. They are rank opportunists and their followers are dumber than dirt.

Does anyone remember Al Sharpton pretending to get upset Rudy Guiliani was firing the police officer (or fire dept guy - don't remember which) in "black face" simulating the dragging death of a black man on the back of a pick up truck in Broad Channel?

At the time, Sharpton was all about "Free Speach" and the guy should keep his job... ha ha... Lorne Michaels will invite him on Saturday Night Live... The late Village Voice muckraker Jack Newfield give him a pass... because you know, they like to discuss boxing or whatever... Its all a joke...

Tom

[PhilDernerJr]

Imus should be fired for being a ****ty radio personality. It's long overdue because he just sucks. He sounds like ****, as if he's changing his voice onthe air nonstop to sound like Isaac Hayes and is failing at it, and his shows are as exciting as reading a phone book.

As for his comments, I've heard worse, but it does warrant an apology which he refuses to give.

Imus might havelearned that even after Michael Richards' debacle went down, that purchases of Seinfeld DVDs skyrockets. Imus really needs this publicity, and I'm sure that even after his suspension is over, his ratings will be higher than they were two weeks ago. People WILL tune in "to hear his garbage".

[T-Bird76]

Oh just for calcification, Sharpton's show is only on one radio station somewhere down south, it’s mainly an internet show. I do not think Imus should be fired for this, he's said allot worse in his years this was mild if not laughable. Once again we've become a society that can't poke fun at another race...However its ok say "Kill whity" in rap songs. Sharpton's reasons for getting involved in this are purely for his own gain as usual.

Oh for the record, let’s be real here, these are college chicks. If you've gone to college you know they are "Ho's", all college girls are Ho's. LOLOL

[Midnight Mike]

Oh for the record, let’s be real here, these are college chicks. If you've gone to college you know they are "Ho's", all college girls are Ho's. LOLOL

No kidding, and when did calling somebody a Nappy Headed Ho turn become a racist comment? It is a rude comment, but, that is about all.

If I was Imus, I would have issued an apology & then told everybody to kiss my arse! Let them prove that Imus is a racist, the more you beg & grovel the more they attack.....

[NcSchu]

It was more a sexist comment, not a racist comment. I'm surprised that feminist organizations aren't getting angry about it. I feel like a very small minority of people actually listen to this guy anyway, he's probably so out of touch with society anyway.

[lijk604]

The press conference from the Rutgers team was P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C!

Some excerpts for those that missed it...

PISCATAWAY, New Jersey (CNN) -- Don Imus "has stolen a moment of pure grace from us," the captain of the Rutgers women's basketball team said Tuesday
(Hmm pure grace? You LOST the championship game! Some grace there)

Other players echoed Carson's reaction, saying Imus' insulting words and the resulting controversy overshadowed their achievements.
(as matter of fact, he helped everyone remember you GOT to the big game, hell, I didn't know).

"Our moment was taken away -- our moment to celebrate our success, our moment to realize how far we had come, both on and off the court, as young women," said sophomore forward Heather Zurich. "We were stripped of this moment by degrading comments made by Mr. Imus last Wednesday. What hurts the most about this situation is that Mr. Imus knows not one of us personally."
(Exactly! That's why this is being blown SO far out of context. It was a joke, it was NOT a personal attack. Accept his apology, get over it and move on).

[Matt Molnar]

Imus should be fired for being a ****ty radio personality.
Can't agree more. Unfortunately old people who remember listening to Imus' cokehead days in the 70s and 80s during the prime of their lives still listen to him despite the show having no information or entertainment value. He still makes money, so until he actually rapes and murders a black woman, or his audience begins to die of old age, he'll be on the air.

[Midnight Mike]

In the wake of Don Imus getting suspended heres a video of a guy who went on CSpan a while back and announces he wants to kill all white people. Where was Al Sharpton after this? Did this guy get picketed and fired? Shouldnt he be held to Sharptons same standards?

http://break.com/index/double_standard.html

[Matt Molnar]

Pretty lousy comparison...Imus works for two of the world's largest media companies, reaching 10 million people, interviewing high-powered politicians and media folk, and generating hundreds of millions in ad sales, and most importantly to Sharpton, it gets his name on the news. Even if Sharpton thought this Kamau Kamson guy was wrong (and yes even Sharpton would object to his ideas) it wouldn't get him anywhere near the airtime that attacking a celebrity or a large corporation does.

[Midnight Mike]

Imus coming out swinging:

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/10/v ... -on-today/ (http://hotair.com/archives/2007/04/10/video-imus-calls-out-sharptons-lie-on-today/)


Just so everybody knows, I don't like Imus, but, Imus is receiving a raw deal, just because he is white.

[hiss srq]

Sharpton is one of the most hypocritcal two faced peices of $hit out there anyhow. Imus IS getting a raw deal and perhaps he shoudld not be because there are too many other personalities on the "other" side of the radio show and general press side of things than can make similar types of refrences in either direction and it is okay. Is it okay because the Ms. Jones show members on 97.1 are ignorant? Is it okay because of a lesser expectation? Come on people get off Imus's back.


Note: I do not listen to that ****ty radio station but unfortuneately my little sister does.

[Matt Molnar]

From Drudge Report:

MSNBC DROPS IMUS INDEFINITELY: Effective immediately, MSNBC will no longer simulcast the "Imus in the Morning" radio program.... Once again, we apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We deeply regret the pain this incident has caused.

[Tom_Turner]

Hey, stop bashing old people... :lol:

this generation has opie & anthony... :shock: and, its really too bad about the "music"...

Anyway -bye bye Imus.. I suppose he will show up on satellite radio?
One more reason not to get it...

btw... How is Howard Stern reacting to all this? getting the last laugh I suppose?




Imus should be fired for being a ****ty radio personality.

Unfortunately old people who remember listening to Imus' cokehead days in the 70s and 80s during the prime of their lives still listen to him despite the show having no information or entertainment value. He still makes money, so until his audience begins to die of old age, he'll be on the air.

[Matt Molnar]

5:01PM: 1010 WINS/SLOMIN'S ALERT: CBS Radio has fired Don Imus.

[T-Bird76]

CBS and the lot of them should be ashamed.

[moose135]

CBS and the lot of them should be ashamed.

I think they should be ashamed for not doing this sooner...

[hiss srq]

I have to agree with Tommy.

[T-Bird76]

CBS and the lot of them should be ashamed.

I think they should be ashamed for not doing this sooner...

Moose he didn't say anything that deserves termination! If it was a black DJ nothing would have happened. Its BS!

[NcSchu]

Once the advertisers pulled out it was pretty clear that he wouldn't be able to stay on the air for much longer. As long as no major companies with money were willing to sponsor the program there would have been no way to keep him on the air anyway. And I have to disagree with the thought that if this happened with a black DJ nothing would have happened. Imus targeted young girls, who were between 18 and 21/22 for these attacks, and that's why it's just so wrong. These college students obviously try really hard to manage college and sports and did make good gains in the season. And for him to completely shoot them down, call them *****s, and make fun of their looks is completely uncalled for, immature, and just rude. It doesn't matter that he's white, because most other djs who choose to target individuals go for people more their age. I haven't heard of any remarks in which any dj insulted young adults in such a strong manner as this and got away with it no matter what the color of their skin.

[USAF Pilot 07]

I haven't heard of any remarks in which any dj insulted young adults in such a strong manner as this and got away with it no matter what the color of their skin.


Turn on HOT 97 once in a while, especially during the morning when it's talk. Granted, they have toned it down a lot, especially since Star and Buc Wild left a few years ago, but still some of what you hear might surprise you...

[Matt Molnar]

Just because black broadcasters get away with saying nasty stuff doesn't mean that Imus didn't deserve to be fired. EVERY broadcaster who uses racist language should be punished. When a black host makes the news for saying something racist, we should demand he be fired. We shouldn't only complain about it when Imus is getting booted. When Rosie made fun of Asians I thought she should be fired, and I think that when Mega goes on the air everyday using words that would earn an English-speaking station hundreds of thousands of dollars in FCC fines, they should be fired too. :)

It doesn't matter, though, Imus defenders, because in the end he wasn't fired because he "deserved" it...if that were the case he would have been canned within hours. In the end it was purely about money. CBS was paying him something like $20 million a year...with the loss of all the national advertisers, there was simply no way CBS would turn a profit on the show. Also, Sharpton and Jackson very likely tried to extort CBS during their meeting with Les Moonves just hours before the firing was announced. Moonves was probably given three choices: a. fire Imus; b. write checks to our respective organizations in the amount of $10-20 million; c. do nothing, and we picket every single Viacom owned property, from 60 Minutes to Comedy Central to movie theaters. Wanting to save a few bucks AND their jobs, Moonves, etc. dropped the axe on Don.

[PhilDernerJr]

You're not actually accusing Sharpton and Jackson of extortion, are you?

</SARCASM>

[hiss srq]

Imus will be back. Hot 97 has stopped answering the phone when I call. I would love to get on the air there. Ohhh boy would I love to start that fire fight!

[Matt Molnar]

Imus will be back.
I don't think he'll be back any time soon. Had this happened a year ago, XM or Sirius probably would have picked him up. But with the two companies now trying to merge and having a difficult time jumping the legal hurdles involved, I'm pretty sure they don't want to risk adding a controversial (and expensive) guy like Imus to their payroll.

[emshighway]

Don Imus was fired for calling the Rutgers University basketball team "nappy headed hos". Sure, that was inappropriate, but did the punishment fit the crime? Maybe we should look at the two guys who pushed this issue until Imus was fired.


Jesse Jackson says it's a question of morality, and what's right and what's wrong.




Just so we're clear:


Imus Calling Black Women "nappy headed hos": Wrong.


Jesse Jackson calling Jews "Hymies" and referring to New York as "Hymietown" : Right. (Washington Post, 1984)


Imus Calling Black Women "nappy headed hos": Wrong.


Jesse Jackson having an affair and Impregnating Karin Stanford, then using rainbow coalition funds to pay her $40,000 and purchasing a $365,000 house to keep her quiet: Right


Jesse Jackson not paying child support for this child, and not visiting her: Right


Jesse Jackson Saying Duke La Crosse Rape Suspects who have been aquitted "deserved the negative attention" because they weren't acting morally by hiring a stripper: Right


I'm glad we have someone with strong moral values like Jesse Jackson to make sure nobody makes racist jokes on radio stations!


Thanks for showing us what's right and what's wrong Jesse.


And who can forget Al Sharpton, another strong moral figure who knows the power of words:


After District Attorney Steven Pagones failed to prosecute white suspects for raping a black girl (because evidence showed the story was fabricated) Al Sharpton accused Pagones Himself of raping the girl. Pagones successfully sued him for Defamation. Right


But it gets better:


Imus Calling Black Women "nappy headed hos": Wrong.


In 1995, Sharpton led a protest in Harlem against the plans of Freddy's Fashion Mart, a Jewish-owned clothing store, to expand into a black neighborhood. Sharpton told the protesters, "We will not stand by and allow them to move this brother so that some white interloper can expand his business." Three months later, an armed protester forcibly entered the store and burned it down, killing himself and seven others. Right


Thanks Jesse and Al for showing us what's right and wrong. I'm glad we can finally see the light now. I'm glad you guys stopped this guy, and all his charities for sick and homeless children, that will now dry up. Thanks guys!