21 Comments Add your own

• 1. Sonya A.  |  April 9th, 2007 at 7:46 pm

  As usual someone has to keep reminding us how far we have to go yet ,as a Major News Organization MSNBC should be ashamed of this enough to do the right thing. DISMANTLE THIS TYPE OF UN NEWSWORTHY air play once and for all! who does this stereo-typical garbage help? No one. If you don’t care about your listeners you obviously don’t care about your ratings of decency.

• 2. Cory  |  April 9th, 2007 at 8:30 pm

  Here’s what Imus said on Al Sharpton’s show:

  “I’m not a white man who doesn’t know any African-Americans.”

  Ah yes, the “I know black people” defense. Well, he must not be a racist, then.

• 3. Allen  |  April 9th, 2007 at 8:37 pm

  Imus is an idiot but, isn’t this tame compared to what Stern used to say on regular radio?

• 4. Allen  |  April 9th, 2007 at 8:39 pm

  Btw, when is the last time Sharpton and Jackson demanded a rapper be fired for the things they say and do in their videos?

• 5. Dave  |  April 9th, 2007 at 9:00 pm

  According to Michael Scott, racial jokes and AIDS are still off limits in the world of comedy. However, the Lincoln assassination just recently became funny. I need to see this play like I need a hole in the head. ZING!

  Ohh Allen… as much as I rationally agree with you… I can’t publicly agree with you because that would make me look bad. Instead, I just join in on the witch hunt and scream “RACIST!!”

  

• 6. Peter  |  April 9th, 2007 at 9:40 pm

  What are we saying here? If a racist special interest group (like Sharpton’s or Jackson’s) gets offended, they can get people fired?

  So, what, are blacks off-limits when it comes to poking fun?

  Or is it that whites can’t use the same language that blacks do? (talk about incredibly racist! - for one race, certain speech is OK; for the other, you get fired)

  Imus apologized profusely. NBC gave the guy 2 weeks off to cool down. I’d say that’s enough. More than enough.

• 7. Darrien  |  April 9th, 2007 at 10:09 pm

  I find it odd that all the things Imus is in trouble for originated from Black people.

  White man steals from the black man yet again…

• 8. Cory  |  April 9th, 2007 at 10:35 pm

  I already jumped into this conversation, which was probably a bad idea, but folks, this guy is on MSNBC. It’s airing on a cable news network, not on Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh or Chris Rock… etc. There’s a higher standard here.

  As David Carr in NYTimes.com points out, Imus is cheap to produce, and MSNBC managers have known about his proclivity to say things that could cast a shadow on the cable channel, yet they proceeded. But that still doesn’t free Imus from the responsibility of saying something blatantly stupid and racially inflammatory.

  I, for one, have had enough of shock cable-TV-news-as-radio — and I have no patience for racist comments, even in jest. As a former NBC News employee myself, I believe he cheapens the channel and is a liability for the NBC News brand.

  There, I feel better.

• 9. The Tony  |  April 10th, 2007 at 7:01 am

  Imus is crap. He says stupid things like this all the time, so I don’t know if it should be going any further than an apology to the ladies on the team…

  …so while I don’t like people being stifled in what they’re allowed to say, less of him on the air should probably be considered a win.

  The guy’s a jerk and his show’s a snoozefest. I pass out in my cereal flipping past it to get to the Weather Channel in the morning.

• 10. The Tony  |  April 10th, 2007 at 7:03 am

  Oh, and as for Stern…he was constantly pushing it too far just because he could.

  Any racist humor on there is always done with a wink, kind of mocking racism in and of itself.

  This is why I can’t be entirely SHOCKED AND APPALLED by what Imus did…but at the same time, him not airing for 2 weeks won’t exactly end civilization.

• 11. invitedmedia  |  April 10th, 2007 at 7:38 am

  how much will this add to his ratings and thereby his ad rates?

• 12. Anonymous  |  April 10th, 2007 at 8:40 am

  Only when black leaders like Sharpton and Jackson go after the hip-hop stars who use derogatory and demeaning language towards women should Imus be gone. It’s a double-standard and it’s wrong.

  Imus screwed up and said something incredibly stupid. However, before he’s thrown under the bus, one needs to step back and think about the bigger picture of who the special interest groups go after, before anything is done.

• 13. Steve Safran  |  April 10th, 2007 at 10:38 am

  Let me throw this out there:

  It’s really up to each group of people to determine what’s offensive to them, isn’t it? Let’s face it - double standards are a part of the game. There are things that are fine to say within your own group that are absolutely not fine for “outsiders” to say to you. You may or may not like that, but that’s the way it is.

  I’m not in the least bit bothered when Imus makes jokes about Howard Fineman being Jewish. If he only mocked Jews, I’d be offended. But that’s up to me.

  Whenever people go on about how “Imus isn’t funny” or “Stern isn’t funny” it troubles me. “Funny” is personal. We all agree on what’s sad - but no two people agree on what’s funny.

  And, like funny, “offensive” is a matter of personal opinion and taste too. Calling African-Americans a “special interest group” is just plain wrong.

  Imus truly is, like Don Rickles, an equal-opportunity offender. I believe he means no harm to one group more to any other. But that’s just opinion. If a group decides they don’t care for the kinds of offense he offers, they are well within their right to do so.

• 14. MD  |  April 10th, 2007 at 10:57 am

  Don’s poorly chosen remarks have re-ignited a debate about decency. Thankfully, the consensus seems to fall on the side of freedom! If one doesn’t like what they heard or was “offended” in some manner, they have the right to tune out. In a democracy, we can vote with our remote.

  Calling for the firing of anyone who makes offensive remarks smacks of socialism. Unfortunately, that seems to be the direction many in this country wish to go. Any group that has been “previously oppressed” at some point in our nation’s history feels they can squelch any speech they feel is hurtful. This behavior highlights numerous double-standards and exposes the true racists in our society.

• 15. Alyssa  |  April 10th, 2007 at 11:13 am

  This skirmish will probably be the basis for a South Park episode eventually. Or L&O.

• 16. Rob  |  April 10th, 2007 at 1:03 pm

  Well, look on the bright side. Now that Larry Birkhead has been declared the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s child and that saga is about over (one can HOPE), all the tabloid shows have Imus being completely out of line for their top story for the next few weeks until the next celeb pulls a major blunder requiring a trial in the court of public opinion, more Al Sharpton and Nancy Grace facetime followed by self-flagellation with either Diane Sawyer or The View Crew and then the inevitable rehab for drug / alcohol / Twinkie abuse.

• 17. Mark  |  April 10th, 2007 at 1:19 pm

  Sharpton is the biggest racist of all. End of story.

• 18. Andrew Deal  |  April 10th, 2007 at 2:25 pm

  Jackson and Sharpton are supposed to be Christian leaders.

  Where’s the forgiveness?

• 19. Nick Geidner  |  April 10th, 2007 at 2:56 pm

  Breaking News: Don Imus offended someone. This is a slow news week and that is the only reason we are even still talking about it. At one point CNN broke into the Imus-gate coverage to announce the results to who the father of Anna Nicole’s baby is. American journalism has major problems…and it is not that Don Imus offended someone.

  Let’s try to keep our eye on the ball and recognize and discuss when important issues in our field arise, instead of wasting our time discussing how 10 people where offended by some radio personality. Even if the penny-pinching execs at MSNBC put that radio personality on TV.

• 20. Lisa NYC  |  April 12th, 2007 at 9:54 am

  THIS WHOLE ATTACK ON IMUS IS PATHETIC!

  If his comments truly hurt the Rutgers women’s basketball team- then fine- HE APLOGIZED ALREADY!! The rest of this should be worked out between IMUS and the RUTGERS WOMEN’S BASKETBALL team. AL SHARPTON- AS USUAL - looks for an opportunity to exploit situations for his own pocket and publicity. He’s a freakin’ loser with nothing better to do than to instigate situation that do not require his input. He’s a joke. If I were black I wouldn’t want a man like Sharpton representing me or my culture at all!

  And as for MSNBC for dropping IMUS- they are nothing but a bunch of spineless jerks who instead of dealing with the heat from the media for the sake one of their biggest personalities- instead they sell him out b/c blacks are crying over comments that a white man made- rather repeated right off of one their own stupid, degrading rap songs. Where the hell else would IMUS get “napping headed hos” from? White folks don’t use that slang, garbage language daily like many blacks do.

  IMUS is not a racist- he was trying to be “cool” “part of pop culture” by using the same trash language that many blacks use. Stupid mistake by IMUS, yes- but look at your communities closer- look to the real problem- you shoot one another and disrespect your women. You created the language, but ofcourse this is typical “double standard” in our country. Many blacks always cry racism right away…b/c they don’t want to deal with the bigger problems within their communities. Al Sharpton and everyone else on IMUS’s case are nothing but hypocrites!

  THANK YOU AL SHARPTION- YOU JUST MADE ME A RACIST!

• 21. Roberto  |  April 13th, 2007 at 12:02 pm

  “4. Allen | April 9th, 2007 at 8:39 pm
  Btw, when is the last time Sharpton and Jackson demanded a rapper be fired for the things they say and do in their videos?”

  When was the last time ANYONE (especially Sharpton & Jackson) called for ANY black to be fired (or even chastised) for using the term “Whitey”??? If that’s not a racist term, then how can “nappy-headed” be???

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