Rutgers Team Accepts Imus' Apology

Players Hope Incident Will Be "Catalyst For Change" For "Greater Ills In Our Culture"

(CBS/AP) 
Imus' troubles have also affected his wife, the founder of a medical center that studies links between cancers and environmental hazards whose book "Green This!" came out this week. Her promotional tour was called off "because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under," said Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer.

The Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology in Hackensack, N.J., works to identify and control exposures to environmental hazards that may cause adult and childhood cancers. The Imus Ranch in New Mexico invites children who have been ill to spend time on a working cattle ranch.

The Imus show's charity fundraiser raised more than $2.3 million Thursday and Friday for Tomorrows Children's Fund, CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch, Deirdre Imus said. The annual event has raised more than $40 million since 1990.

Many of those calling to make pledges expressed support for Imus. Some Imus fans considered his punishment harsh, and some went too far.

"If you want to send hate mail, send it to my husband. I mean, don't be sending hate mail to these young women," Deirdre Imus said on the air.

Stringer declined to discuss the hate mail Friday. Rutgers team spokeswoman Stacey Brann said the team had received "two or three e-mails" but had also received "over 600 wonderful e-mails."

The cantankerous Imus, once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was one of radio's original shock jocks.

He first came to prominence at WGAR Cleveland, a widely-heard clear-channel station, then moved to WNBC-AM in New York in the early 1970s. His humor then was more prankish, with routines such as "10,000 Hamburgers To Go," in which he pretended to be an Army Reserve general placing an order at McDonald's for his troops.

But a mix of cocaine and vodka made him undependable, and WNBC took him off the air. After sobering up, he returned to the air and settled into a mix of highbrow talk about politics and culture, with locker room humor sprinkled in.

When WFAN moved from the 1050 frequency and took over WNBC's 660 AM, the "Imus in the Morning" program stayed in place, the only non-sports programming on the station.

He issued repeated apologies as protests intensified. But it wasn't enough as everyone from Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey joined the criticism.

"You have to be accountable for what you do," the Rev. Al Sharpton said on CBS News' The Early Show Friday. "And the fact that he had done this over and over and apologized before, made that very suspect."

There is speculation that Don Imus' radio career is not yet over.

"There'll be a period of 'Imus Detox,' in which he'll kind of disappear, hope this thing will blow over and kind of go away, and then I think he probably would get picked up someplace else," Syracuse University Professor of Media and Culture Robert Thompson told CBS News Thursday.

One likely possibility is satellite radio, where radio "shock jock" Howard Stern and former National Public Radio "Morning Edition" host Bob Edwards went. Because it does not use standard licensed radio frequencies, satellite radio is not regulated by the government, and more insulated from political pressure.

Losing Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Stern departed. The program earns about $15 million in annual revenue for CBS, which owns Imus' home radio station, WFAN-AM, and manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show nationally WFAN. CBSNews.com is also part of CBS Corp., as is Simon & Schuster.

[jerseytoo]

Rutgers girls basketball team accepted the apology of Don Imus. I can find forgivness in my heart for his offensive statement. How about those Christian men? Where's their forgiveness?
I am having trouble forgiving those who turned their backs on Don Imus. You know who you are...all of you who used his program to promote your own needs. Shameful! That's more shameful than his ignorant comment. CBS and MSNBC, in caving to the pressure, the punishment did not fit the crime. You too should be ashamed.

[judeca1]

Everyone interested - there is one radio station 60 miles out of Los Angeles that is going to run the "Best of Imus" from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. It's station KCAA Radio 1050AM.
www.KCAARADIO.com

[kiddo88]

Im proud that the basketball team could do more than two 'reverends' could...forgive the trespasses against us. I commend your strength and grace!

[cjhr43]

man, some of the garbage here is more offensive than what Imus said... the deal is over... time to get back to the daily routine and wait for the next molehill to grow into a mountain.

[hermit22]

for the record, i have NEVER suggested anyone swat people!~

if the mosquito bites, SWAT it,
to SPARE other people....

if there is a problem, deal with it,
don't just ignore it.

if "ignoring" the toxic media worked so well, we wouldn't be here hashing this out now.

[firstamend1]

I know what would be a good idea...Radio show called "Imus & Jesse" that would mimick Amos & Andy and Al Sharpton would play "Kingfish"... They could go at it bare knuckles and I (WASP) would even listen to that !!

[randalds]

Posted by overstand at 08:25 PM : Apr 14, 2007

I think that it's become obvious from your "comments" here and in the other thread that you're not the least bit interested in an adult discussion of issues and instead are only interested in bleating out your narrow-minded hill-billy bullsh*it. It's also obvious that you're just one of the usual trolls here but under a different name. Begone toad. You're not intelligent enough for me to talk to and don't have the capacity to understand that. In short, you're not worth my time or effort.

[ioverstand]

I'm from the hills. I can see you are as well. Black naked women have quickly become the issue. They're in the video and the movies. Why are the videos worse than the movies? The attempt to turn this around as something other than a racist comment has fallen upon deaf ears.

[randalds]

What's the difference btwn. black rappers exploiting their women and Billy Bob Thornton having his way w/ a naked Halle Berry in "MonsterBall"? Any comments? Thought not.
Posted by overstand at 07:59 PM : Apr 14, 2007

What an amazingly, incredible ignorant, analogy. The two are not even close in any way, shape or form. They are not even in the same ballpark. Do you bother to read what you type or does the cra*p just sort of flow out? You're either 13 years old or from the hills somewhere. Grow up before you post. For our sake. Thank you.

[ioverstand]

Aside from everything else, the comments were unprofessional and meant as some sort of off kilter joke. Nothing was funny about it. And about this hip hop thing.....It's unfair to judge this as if every "artist" partakes in this type of music. Actually, most of them don't. Just a relatively small percentage of them do. It's just that these are the ones you see and hear the most. B/c of our sick culture's taste for entertainment. So let's not blame the rappers. That's a d**n cop out. Half of the kids buying the junk aren't even black. So get off of it. By the way, what about this Quentin Tarantino a**hole and his infatuation w/ the word n****er. Focus people. What's the difference btwn. black rappers exploiting their women and Billy Bob Thornton having his way w/ a naked Halle Berry in "MonsterBall"? Any comments? Thought not.

[bensondana]

I have enjoyed listening to Imus since the 1970's. He is a good person. However, there was no reason for him to resort to gutter "humor." He was stellar just interviewing his mainstream guests.

He did go too far.

The Rutgers women have demonstrated a HUGE amount of class throughout this issue. They are the winners. Well done!

[clnpl]

I would like to take a moment and share my thoughts. I believe that Don Imus is being railroaded out of a job, I think he is unfairly being persecuted for his words, although i would not like my sister, girlfriend or daughter to be called the names in which Imus used in his broadcast we must also as a society look at the music industry. We live in a world that is continuously bombarded with hip-hop music that frequently uses such words as *** ,*** etc.... tell me how it is fair for some individuals to use such terms and not others? Is it because Imus himself is white Radio host? When will these artist be dropped from their labels and endorsements? Do we not tell our youth that "sticks and stones will break our bones BUT NAMES WILL NEVER HURT US?
I think that Don Imus being made an example of . Therefore I will no longer will be viewing CBS TV.
Very Unhappily
P Clini

[spiritwomyn]

"I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Burn the Bill of Rights. Throw out the Constitution. If you offend someone we can fire you, jail you, silence you anyway possible. Freedom of Speech does not mean you will not be offended, it means the right to be protected from backlash for our words. We do not have to agree with the owrds, but the right to say them. We can turn off the program, the radio or not buy the publication.
I do not have the right to not be offended, yet I am offended by hypocrites like Jesse jackson, Corruption in Governemtn, the press that lies to the people and denies those running for office who are not dems or reps from being heard, seen or known by the masses. yet will you silence them, protect me? i hope the hell nott. If you did you would be destroying freedom of speech. Firing Imus is an outright attack of the Bill or Rights. Who gets to decide what is offensive? Who gets to decide who should be silenced? Who is the authority of decency and truth? Burn the Bill of Rights and welcome naziism to America.

[processor2]

Don Imus was a big enough man to apologize.

Will Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton be man enough to apologize to those innocent Duke boys for the false accusations and presumptions they stirred up in Durham, NC.

I won't be holding my breath.

...

[ioverstand]

All of you sound like some da** fools. The first thing that I'll say to the little irate caucasoids....oops, I mean stringy headed pale devils. Did I say that? Shouldn't bother you though. Just like being a nappy headed ho doesn't bother me; when I say it. The reason that you're upset is b/c you can't be in the "n-word" club. It literally pains you to have to be on the outside looking in. It bothers you to find out that something has slipped under the ever so scrutinizing eye of your "Big Brother" surveillance. It's obvious to me that you idiots have never experienced racism. How could you? You're usually the ones setting the bar for it. So it is very easy to just say that "it's nothing", "get over it". B/c it's not your problem. Just as easy as it should be for me to have no sympathy for a white person suffering from skin cancer. I don't have to worry about that, so I shouldn't care? *** fools. The whole lot of you. Just couldn't wait to unleash those racial demons that have been burdening you for so long, racial demons that have been put in check by your own constitution, might I add. Remember:"your rights end where someone else's begin." Idiots. And what the h**l do any NFL players have to do w/ this? Stick to the topic, stupid.

[pared1]

Then all of you can still get your kicks listening to degrading and demeaning comments by your hero.

How pathetic is that !
Posted by hoipolloi2 at 03:51 PM : Apr 14, 2007

Why thank you...you nappy headed ho!
LOL

[hoipolloi2]

All the racists and bigots that love Mr. Imus should not be worried.

Surely, he will be picked up by satellite or maybe Fox...

Then all of you can still get your kicks listening to degrading and demeaning comments by your hero.

How pathetic is that !

[dblbar]

In USA Today, of the 41 NFL players arrested last year, 39 were African American. I can't wait to hear Rev Al and Rev Jesse try to blame Imus for that.
Posted by arvid0823 at 03:03 PM : Apr 14, 2007

No arvid0823 - that one will be blamed on the huge social injustices to the blacks living in a white man's world and yada, yada, yada...we all know the answer to that one.

I just don't understand why its okay for certain people to be racist and hurtful, but not others...

[arvid0823]

You%u2019ve (Imus) given Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson another opportunity to pretend that the old fight, which is now the safe and lucrative fight, is still the most important fight in our push for true economic and social equality. Jason Whitlock

Imus was and is a shock jock -- he went over the line by attacking the Rutgers womens team.

I don't understand why he chose to apologize to Reverend Al (Tawana Brawley, Crown Heights riots, Freddys Merchandise Mart, Duke lacrosse condemnation).

Rev Al and Rev Jesse have another distraction (IMUS) to avoid looking in the mirror and dealing with how the gangsta and prison culture has co-opted the African American community.

In USA Today, of the 41 NFL players arrested last year, 39 were African American. I can't wait to hear Rev Al and Rev Jesse try to blame Imus for that.

[otherbro81]

There once was a time in America........
Before the ugly "Politically Correct" movement
began, with its uptight, thin-skinned butt heads,
with their noses in the air, and their holier-
than-thou attitudes.........
This was back in the early 1970's, and I worked
with a bunch of people from all races. We were
white, black, brown, yellow, red....everything.
We used to make jokes all day long...racist jokes,
mother jokes, father jokes, *** jokes, nothing was
off limits, and everybody laughed, and nobody got
"hurt" or upset. It was like we were in a contest
to make the most fun out of the others circumstances. Imagine what the reaction would be
today if a red man said to a black man, "your mother is like a cup of coffee.......". I won't write the rest, but back then that was the height
of humor, and everyone had a real long laugh. Then
the black man would call the red man "Tonto" and
congratulate him on his wit. This is just an example. There were jokes for everybody and every
one was happy and got along. So, what happened to
this melting pot we call America, when you can't
even mention that someone else looks different than you do ? You can't even tell a joke anymore. How sad. Perhaps we should slit each
others throats instead ?