Imus: Race Remark Was "Sarcastic"

Radio Host Defends Latest On-Air Foot-In-Mouth Moment; Says Criticism Is "Ridiculous"

(CBS/AP)  Don Imus said Tuesday morning on his radio show that he was trying to "make a sarcastic point" in his latest on-air remarks about race, but that they had been misunderstood.

Imus resurrected his radio career six months ago with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by a racist and sexist comment he made about a women's basketball team.

On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks - in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.

"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."

He called the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever - and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts.

"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.

Co-host Karith Foster - who is black - came to Imus' defense during Tuesday's broadcast, saying, "People who interpret what you said as racist clearly didn't hear the whole thing, and they don't know who you are and what the program is about - and they obviously haven't been listening."

The latest comments by Imus to come under scrutiny were aired on Monday's broadcast. During a conversation about Jones' run-ins with the law, Imus asked, "What color is he?" Sports announcer Warner Wolf said Jones - formerly known as Pacman - is "African-American." Imus responded: "There you go. Now we know."

CBS News correspondent Andrea Stassou reports that Imus issued a statement on Monday night explaining, "I meant he was being picked on because he's black."

The on-air exchange came months after Imus' return to work on a new show on WABC-AM following his firing from MSNBC and CBS Radio for calling the Rutgers University women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."

When he returned to work, Imus gave a lengthy on-air apology and pledged to use his new show to foster an open dialogue on race relations.

Stassou reports that Reverend Al Sharpton, who was instrumental in Imus' firing after the Rutgers comments, says that he will wait a day or two to decide what, if any, action his group will take this time.

Jones told the Dallas Morning News in Tuesday editions that he's upset by Imus' comments and plans to pray for the radio host.

"I'm truly upset about the comments," Jones said. "Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."

WABC and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Vice President Phil Boyce said Monday that it was unlikely the broadcasters would take disciplinary action against Imus.

[fstop100]

I guess it is only OK for Obama to be a racist.
Leave Imus guy alone, he bothers no one.

[faith_in_w]

fstop100, its OK for Imus and Limbaugh to be racist, not Obama.

[l8c6]

Geeze, did anyone happen to not notice what talk show host Michael Reagan said about sticking bombs in muslim babies bu*tt*s and blowing them up and then shooting their mothers. Unbelievable....and this guy keeps getting attention. Our media is so inept, dysfunctional and contrived. Rush Limbaugh says outrageous stuff too as well as Ann Coulter and Bill O''Reilly. Is there a reason why these media hoes are immune? WHO OWNS THE MEDIA, er um propaganda machine in the U.S.?

[jfffnn1]

1) How is it Obama is racist ? 2) I don''t think Imus was being racist when he mentioned a Black being arrested 6 times,he was telling the truth about injustice in America.

[jboxton]

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Is that ALL he said? Man, you liberals and guilt ridden white people are just looking for him to mess up again. I don''t see ANYTHING racist with what he said. If that was anyone else in radion this would not be an issue. That''s BS that CBS would put this as front page news.

[genesis15-2009]

Jones comments of being upset at the comments of Imus is fake. He was never upset when him and his stupid thug posse used the N word whenever they greeted each other as my brother. These comments are way overblown by a media that wants another racial story. As far as Sharpton is concerned, is him and Tawana Brawley married yet? They should be considering he was willing to be made an idiot by her. What a puppet to be played with.

[acolton1]

I guess that Don Imus will be a target for Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for the rest of time.

I think that Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson owe the DUKE LACROSSE TEAM AND THE UNIVERSITY a sincere appology in PERSON and on TV for the comments they made and jumping to the defense of this stripper who lied thru her teath and when it was found out that she DID LIE, Reverend Al Shaprton and Jesse Jackson dropped the entire issue like a Hot Potato and to my knowledge they never appologized for their mistatek but they made Don IMUS appologize countless times.

Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are COWARDS AND Over the Hill and out of Touch with America and Reality. Most of all I have lost all respect for these COWARDS because Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were not MEN enoufgh to appologize to Duke Lacrosse Team and the University.

[runningralph]

What''s really outrageous here is that Adam Jones keeps committing crimes.

[barbaraf4]

I don''t know if I can take another six months of apologies from Imus. It is a talk show for crying out loud. If he said the same thing about a white person, there wouldn''t even be a ripple. It is just the black people standing aroung waiting to be offended. By the way, if this black guy has been arrested 6 times, why is he still on the street?

[usbrit-2009]

Is there a reason why these media hoes are immune? WHO OWNS THE MEDIA, er um propaganda machine in the U.S.?

Posted by l8c6

This is an unforeseen consequence of the first amendment. Oh, and the reason there''s no such thing as left-wing hate radio - liberals have minds of their own, they are not unthinking dittoheads.

[ejcspau]

No matter what the conversation is about, if it references blacks, the person speaking is racist, except when the person speaking is black, then they are being victimized. GEEZ, give me a break. Racism exists because blacks perpetuate it.

[acolton1]

I guess that Don Imus will be a target for Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson for the rest of time.

I think that Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson owe the DUKE LACROSSE TEAM AND THE UNIVERSITY a sincere appology in PERSON and on TV for the comments they made and jumping to the defense of this stripper who lied thru her teath and when it was found out that she DID LIE, Reverend Al Shaprton and Jesse Jackson dropped the entire issue like a Hot Potato and to my knowledge they never appologized for their mistatek but they made Don IMUS appologize countless times.

Reverend Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are COWARDS AND Over the Hill and out of Touch with America and Reality. Most of all I have lost all respect for these COWARDS because Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson were not MEN enoufgh to appologize to Duke Lacrosse Team and the University.

[jetlizhan]

i know we can''t help how we look, but imus'' face scares me. talk about butt ugly.

[genesis15-2009]

Is there a reason why these media hoes are immune? WHO OWNS THE MEDIA, er um propaganda machine in the U.S.?

Posted by l8c6

This is an unforeseen consequence of the first amendment. Oh, and the reason there''''s no such thing as left-wing hate radio - liberals have minds of their own, they are not unthinking dittoheads.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by USBrit

Another reason why there is no major left-wing radio stations is because they cannot compete. The silent majority (the unknown listeners) do not want to hear the American hating views of the left. That is why they are trying to pass a law called the Fairness Doctrine that would silence those that disagree with political idiots like Pelosi, Reid, Gore, and many others.

[faith_in_w]

l8c6, whats wrong with saying that? Please tell me.

[genesis15-2009]

Co-host Karith Foster - who is black - came to Imus'' defense during Tuesday''s broadcast, saying, "People who interpret what you said as racist clearly didn''t hear the whole thing, and they don''t know who you are and what the program is about - and they obviously haven''t been listening."

That should explain everything. But no, the problem is that Imus had the nerves to make a small reference to a person''s skin color and many in the Black community had panic attacks because of it. Get a life!!!

[reedtaz73]

When it comes to the big picture...Duke lacrosse team means nothing. Why should they apologise to men that degrade women in the first place...They ordered a stripper dumbies. You should ask why a group of men would order 1 stripper. rich cheap basturd punk kids.

[rowdywicca]

I guess if we reffered to white people as the...

____________ people...

and the black people as the...

____________ people...

Then maybe we could all just come together and be the....

American people. Whatta ya say?

[checkthepast]

If you listened (or read the follow-ups)Imus was calling attention to racism in law enforcement and should be applauded not chastised.

But...welcome to America, if you choose not to like me because of my weight, my heritage, my color, or even my smell or the green spikes in my hair, then it''s your loss, but you have a right not like whomever you want. Some things can''t be legislated into existence.

And Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson (and affirmative action)are the biggest racists on planet Earth. They do not and will not allow people to be people...it seems impossible for them to finish a sentence without pointing out in capital letters that the portion of our population that is of African decent are not people, they are BLACK people. That really sucks, we are all people, green spike hair and all (which I don''t happen to have by the way) ;)

[rowdywicca]

Strange isn''t it...people want to put a label on themselves...and then get PISSED when somebody refers to them using that label!

The world is insane!

[kevzgrl]

Don, here''s a little tip for you - JUST SHUT THE *** UP!!! Any time you open your mouth in regard to persons of a different color from you, you put your foot right in it. JUST SHUT UP!!!

[keithle1]

It''s ok to say you were sexually assaulted/raped when you weren''t? Drag someone''s name through the media & the court for no reason?

No one put a gun to her head to force her to be a stripper. Don''t be jealous that they''re rich.

[acolton1]

Posted by reedtaz73 at 09:25 AM : Jun 24, 2008

Why do men order strippers for a Bachelor Party or Females order Strppers for a Bachelortte Party, so you comment is that everybody who orders a stripper is to degrade women and men and are rich cheap basturd punk kids. Say that to Ladys who order a stripper for the 50th birthday and have been married for 30 years.

reedtaz73 your comment makes no sence and your facts are un-coordinated.

[keithle1]

Jones is "upset" & is going to "pray" for Imus. Gimme a break. This is all we have to worry about? Lots of black NFL/NBA players have been in trouble with the law. If you follow sports at all, you know that. No one is making it up.

[docpeter-2009]

Are we seeing the true Don Imus, a racist.

[alexma50085]

When it comes to the big picture...Duke lacrosse team means nothing. Why should they apologise to men that degrade women in the first place...They ordered a stripper dumbies. You should ask why a group of men would order 1 stripper. rich cheap basturd punk kids.

Posted by reedtaz73 at 09:25 AM

There were two strippers at the Duke party.

[reedtaz73]

genesis15
Your dumb as he!! if you believe the black community is having a panic attack. White people have been the biggest pushers for equality between races...You think Martin Luther King did what he did with no help from white people?

[wdrussell1]

Get real folks. Imus was employeed to be part of hate radio. Why are people surprised?

[alexma50085]

Thank-you to the press for making this a big issue when it''s absolutely nothing. Imus is just an easy target right now for the press, so anything that he says can be tossed around and looked at in different angles, so it can be made into something that it''s not. I don''t even see where they get anything racist from his statement. I just don''t see it, can anyone please explain how that statement is racist???

[monicac17]

how sensitive can a group of people who call me a white cracker really be?

[acolton1]

reedtaz73

Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson defended a stripper so what does that say about them. I dont care if the stripper was black the POINT IS THAT SHE LIED and AL Sharpton and Jesse Jackson defended her and when they proved she did LIE, JACKSON AND SHARPTON said nothing and did not appologize but the sure were on IMUS like White on RICE and hammering the guy to say he was sorry countelss times. IT''S A 2 WAY STREET AND JESSE JACKSON AND REV AL SHARPTON ARE COWARDS and are spineless punks for not appologizing.

[extremophil]

Imus is Ugleeeee.....and I''m not being sarcastic.

[keithle1]

The media like to make mountains out of molehills.

Sharpton loves this kind of non-event because it gets him more attention. Talk about someone who loves the sound of their own voice. After the Reverend is through, he''ll have Imus saying he wanted to lynch Pacman.

[kevzgrl]

Quoted from the article: Jones told the Dallas Morning News in Tuesday editions that he''s upset by Imus'' comments and plans to pray for the radio host.

"I''m truly upset about the comments," Jones said. "Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I''m upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."

How nice. It appears Mr. Jones has "found" God (although HE dind''t go anywhere) and will pray for Mr. Imus. Did Mr. Jones pray for the victims of his prior crimes? Did he pray before he COMMITTED those crimes? Or after? Here''s a little news flash - the police DON''T arrest someone SIX times just because he "did something" ONCE - hasn''t he been in trouble for several assaults, drunk driving, drugs and other assorted violations of the LAW??? And it''s ALL because he''s BLACK??? Bull-sh-it - if there was enough smoke for him to be in trouble that many times, there sure as heck has to be a fire that started that smoke!
Now, on CNN this morning, they were covering this story and stated that Mr. Jones has stopped using the nickname "Pacman" because everyone associates that with the legal troubles he has - poor baby, if you didn''t do the crimes, there wouldn''t have been any trouble, would there?

[usbrit-2009]

Another reason why there is no major left-wing radio stations is because they cannot compete. The silent majority (the unknown listeners) do not want to hear the American hating views of the left. That is why they are trying to pass a law called the Fairness Doctrine that would silence those that disagree with political idiots like Pelosi, Reid, Gore, and many others.

Posted by genesis15

Limpbore, Shammity, O''Wrongly and that blond and their right-wing dittoheads are directly responsible for the do-nothing trash talking politics of today. Right wing hate radio, where all the "host" does is shout down differing points of view is directly responsible for the lack of civility in politics today. From that comes partizanship on a scale never seen before in the history of this country which directly leads to distrust of and lack of empathy for anyone else''s point of view.

[acolton1]

If Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton were MEN they would appologize to Duke.

IMUS appologized now its Jackson and Sharptons turn.

Saying, I made a mistake & I am sorry is not that hard grow some balls and appologize Jackson and Sharpton.

[genesis15-2009]

Limpbore, Shammity, O''''Wrongly and that blond and their right-wing dittoheads are directly responsible for the do-nothing trash talking politics of today. Right wing hate radio, where all the "host" does is shout down differing points of view is directly responsible for the lack of civility in politics today. From that comes partizanship on a scale never seen before in the history of this country which directly leads to distrust of and lack of empathy for anyone else''''s point of view.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by USBrit

Why is it their fault just because liberal talk-show host can''t compete and stay on the air. Does not that tell you what the majority of Americans want to hear. Don''t blame O''Reilly and all those guys.

[whatsup49]

good golly, leave imus alone. i may (or may not) agree with everything he says, but i will defend his right to say it.

[keithle1]

And The Outrage Twins call themselves "ministers." Ha! What a joke. It''s all about their egos. No one is going to accuse them of being humble.

Imus is a real threat to black people.

[nishaboston]

*** that was one ugly man. Is he even Human!!!!

[faith_in_w]

USBrit, no they are not. We have had do-nothing trash talking politics a long time before they were born.

[rf35]

Sharpton and Jackson are among the biggest proponents of racism in the US today. They and their ilk are the ones ensuring racism stays thoroughly engrained in American society. If these two loudmouths would shut up, race relations would be far more advanced that it is right now. It has been my experience that so-called minorities are the ones most interested in perpetuating racism. Why give up their special status in favor of true equality?

There is only one race...the human race.

[lloydbest1]

Because of Imus'' unfortunate remarks regarding the Scarlet Knights ANYthing he says that is even remotely connected with race or racial issues will be interpreted by some (even many) as racist - even if it isn''t and even if the intent is innocent. Comments like "Nappy headed ''ho''s''" leaves little room for doubt about Imus'' racial attitudes and any change in such attitudes is years in the making and only if one puts forth an effort to change. Whether Imus is truly a racist or not is irrelevant; what he is percieved to be is the critical issue. It ain''t fair but in the present context of racial politics and relations, Don Imus is defined by others; not by himself.

[keithle1]

The police don''t go after people for overdue library books or because you didn''t give up your seat on the subway to an old person. People act like these guys are choirboys who are being harassed for no reason by the bad old pigs. Just because they''re black. Blah, blah, blah. "Profiling." There can never be a reason.

[roger_inkart]

I listened to the clip and I think he''s not being sarcastic. Regardless, I don''t care what he said all that much - he''s entitled to his opinion and his listeners are free to make their own judgements and choices. Knowing what he said in the past doesn''t help his case IMO.

That being said, Imus should at least man up and own what he said. This dancing around the truth and trying to spin it belittles everyone.

[rf35]

...Imus should at least man up and own what he said. This dancing around the truth and trying to spin it belittles everyone.

Posted by roger_inkart at 10:03 AM : Jun 24, 2008

The same comment can apply to Sharpton and Jackson, the Reverends of Spin.

[zerato-2009]

I am not a fan of imus, but I think we should stop trying to have a hi tech execution of imus. The remark seemed very racist until he offered his explanantion. It makes sense. leave him alone and let him insult everyone else

[markmn29]

I find it funny that Pacman Jones apparently has found God since he is going to pray for Imus. Where was God when Pacman was at the strip joints, the gun fights, the brawls? Does anyone really think he is going to remain clean?

[jumkey]

Outraged at what ddhinnyc? Obama targeting a group of people who what to vote for him?

The OUTRAGE that a black man he might actually try to win the Presidency! Why can''t they stay in their place?

Given the disproportionate percentage of blacks in prison compared to the population in general maybe black ex-prisoners have reason to believe they are unfairly singled out for prosecution. Perhaps they are using their Constitutional freedom to vote to change the system that targets and suppresses them.

Ever thought of that you racist pig?

[roger_inkart]

The same comment can apply to Sharpton and Jackson, the Reverends of Spin.

Posted by rf35 at 10:06 AM : Jun 24, 2008

And they are just as entitled to say whatever they want, are they not? Why is Imus allowed to shoot his mouth off yet these two guys are to be condemned?

Regardless I don''t like them - never have. I''m a liberal leaning centrist and I think it''s a conservative myth we agree with Sharpton and Jackson regardless of the issue and what they say. I certainly don''t (nor do I believe in affirmative action or government quotas FWIW.)

But until they comment on the matter it''s best to focus on what was said. Imus should be thrilled - he''s back in the headlines.