Celebrity News: Don Imus Fired From NBC & MSNBC Over Racial & Sexist Comments [April 13, 2007]

Don Imus Fired From NBC & MSNBC Over Racial & Sexist Comments

Friday, April 13, 2007

Last week on Don Imus' morning radio show broadcast on CBS radio and simulcast on TV via MSNBC was talking as usual about current events. The topic of the moment was the loss of the Rutgers women's basketball team in the NCAA championship. As is his shtick, he tries to insert humor into the mundane. One of his comments regarding the team consisting of eight black players was that they were "nappy headed hos." The Rutgers' team, listeners and most importantly in the big scheme of things, the sponsors, did not find this to be funny as well.

Within hours, Imus had realized what he had done and began apologizing. He knew he had gone too far in his stab at comedy. Within days the TV simulcast on MSNBC had been terminated, then within hours of talking to the Rutgers team in person to apologize, CBS had pulled the plug on his radio show.

[The following contains opinion of the author and not news, it does not necessarily the opinion of PopStarsPlus.com or its affiliates]

However, the big story here is not what he said, but the furor and media attention that followed his words.

Words can be very powerful weapons and shields when used by the right people or in the right manner. Imus had a very high soap box to stand on when speaking and a lot of people not only just listened, but were also influenced by what he said [intentionally written in the past tense.] His words, in many ways were power. With power, comes responsibility. Was it responsible for Don Imus to use those words while broadcasting?

On the other hand, should you also look at the context in which it is being said? Imus has risen to broadcast fame for being a bit of a shock jock. Maybe not as shocking as contemporaries such as Howard Stern, but he tries to be a bit edgy (especially in his earlier days). He makes fun of people, places and situations. Was this just another routine where he was trying to make light of a situation (the loss of a major competition) but used inappropriate words - and most probably unintentially.

Did Imus really know what he was saying? Does he even know what a "nappy headed ho" is, or what it means? Although he seems to be very knowledgeable about politics and entertainment to name a few, does he really know anything about the culture of contemporary youth today? Or maybe he does know a little about it. If you listen to rap and hip-hop, those words and many like them are continuously used. If you watch many of today's movies, the same words, and many that are much worse are also used as freely as "hello" and "goodbye." To him, they may just be some funny words with little or no derogatory meaning. I guess that he has now learned differently.

I think that that is what is missing -- that is what the real problem is with all of this -- has anyone learned anything? If racial tolerance and understanding is going to be the new order of the world we live in -- we need to educate. Firing Imus has done nothing but get people mad. Imus has been severely punished and now probably dislikes a lot of people for misjudging him (I personally do not think he is a racist or a sexist), chastising him, taking away his livelihood and accusing him of heinous things without knowing him - or even listened to more than a few minutes of his radio program. [For instance, I know who James Gandolfini is, but I have never seen the Sopranos]. Many of these critics dislike Imus for his comments. The Rutgers basketball team, not only has lost the big game, but now also has to deal with all the media surrounding this. Imus dislikes the networks for canning him. Sponsors dislike everyone for losing money. The networks are upset because they too are loosing money, No one is happy and most importantly, no one has learned anything in all of this.

Imus may be an influential celebrity, however he made a mistake. If you know anything about Imus and all the charity work he does, you can be assured that he is not a racist or a sexist [Myself, I am an occasional listener, but not a big fan, but have listened enough over the years to see this for myself]. The way the whole situation should have been handled would have been to teach Imus about the meaning of his words and remind him of his influence when using them on the air waves. He then could have used this influence to teach his listeners about racial tolerance. Now that he is off the airwaves, there is a lesson that if you use derogatory terms you get in trouble -- however, it is one that will go away with time and the feeling of whites that it was the blacks and their activists that took Imus off the air, and the blacks saying that Imus is just another racist whitey that got his just punishment. People, listen to me, you are all wrong -- black or white, blue or grey, yellow or orange, stop the blame game and begin to use education to mend the wounds that are taking centuries to heal.

If you do not like Imus, then do not listen to him. There are many radio and television stations I do not listen to or watch because I do not like them. If Imus was truly a racist, he would not have had the listenership he did. If you do not like him, simply turn the channel. If you are "worried" that your children would be influenced by what he is saying -- then you have no clue about your children. First of all, kids and teenagers are not listening to Imus, and if they were, they are not being influenced by some old guy in a cowboy hat. Secondly, you need to look at what they are listening to and watching -- the stuff on TV, in the movies and on the radio (or CDs) is sometimes much worse - and has an much, much greater influence on them than anything Imus is saying.

Another thing about this whole matter -- what about the First Amendment? What about free speech? The angry public has just taken our liberties back a notch or two. Now, any radio personality has to be even more careful not to cross that grey line which has moved a lot closer to PC. If it was Barbara Walters that said this, you would say that this was totally uncharacteristic of her and her show. For Imus, you kind of expect stuff like that to be said. Now, if Imus ever comes back to radio, you know that even his attempts at being edgy will be as sharp as a spork because he does not even want to come close to the line. This will hold true for other radio "shock jocks" as well. I think Howard Stern did the right thing by going off of free radio - he can say what he wants without the restrictions. I think that part of the call for Imus' blood is due in part that Stern is no longer an easy target. The socio-political environment at this time were also huge elements in how this whole thing "went down."

Was what he said completely stupid? Without a doubt. Was Imus unfairly fired? I think so. He has been fired for making one stupid mistake. Think about the stupid mistakes we have made at work, and still kept our jobs. Should he be penalized in some way? Yes. The suspension, with some other type of learning experience would have been a better way to go, especially if part of it would have been used to help educate the public. But hot heads and money prevailed.

What is your opinion, I would like to know. Email me at info@popstarsplus.com to give me your thoughts. Also let me know if you would like me to post your comments on this page.

[end opinion]

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Don Imus Fired From NBC & MSNBC Over Racial & Sexist Comments

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