Don Imus, Legendary 'Imus in the Morning' Radio Host, Dies at 79

Hollywood Reporter ^ | 12/27/2019 | by Duane Byrge , Katie Kilkenny

[Roccus]

Yeah, I prolly shouldn’t have said that.

But if I apologized, that would just make me a wuss too.

[Pelham]

It was obvious at the time that Imus “nappy headed hoes” comment was a joke based on the lyrics of rap music. Everyone knew what he was doing.

The decision to fire him was the usual social justice warrior double standard of reading the worst possible motive into the white guy’s comment, when the very same comment from a black comic would have resulted in nothing. Reverse racism at its finest. It was utter bullshit.

[raccoonradio]

Don Imus, angry at Jay Severin at a WTKK Boston "Kiss Me I'm Imus" event
Some comments I've seen:
"He arguably helped save Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential run"
From liberal Dan Kennedy, WGBH-TV Boston: "I used to like him.. but as times changed, he became bitter and more offensive rather than adjusting."
(Sounds like how I felt about George Carlin)

After conservative Howie Carr pointed out how old Imus was--he'd be dead by the time his new son got to college--Imus made a crack about Howie's wife, on air. She's not a public person and threatened to sue. Alan Dershowitz helped the Carrs get a financial out-of-court settlement. Howie has said that paid for his Florida condo. At one point Carr tried to jump to WTKK-FM Boston, which got rid of the Imus show after the Rutgers comment, and Howie was in line to get that morning time slot. A court ruling kept Howie on WRKO AM until 2014...by which time WTKK had changed format anyway.

[alexander_busek]

And since he actually had nappier hair than the women on that team, that was also a racial insult.

There's no logic to that statement.

Suppose I weigh 300 lbs., and call some poor 275-lb. guy a "fat s.o.b.?" Isn't that actually less stinging than if I were a svelte 180 lbs.?

Regards,

[jmacusa]

I’m sorry for his family. Imus did do some good charitable works but I never cared for him.

[TalBlack]

, “He’s out there talking the way most of us talk when we’re not in public.”

Funny thing though: Howard Stern said that if Imus talked on the air the way he did off the air he’d be unbeatable.

[norwaypinesavage]

I thought he was 14, perpetually trapped in a Jr. high locker room.

[MrEdd]

Ho’s is racial?
Really?
In what way?

When did you become a social justice warrior?

You gonna claim “bitches” is racial too?

[newnhdad]

He was the first prominent victim of cancel culture.
It's easy to say “he got what he deserved” because you didn't like his style on the radio but what happened to him was wrong. The asterisk in his bio is because of people like Sharpton, who was a frequent guest on Imus, wanted to get a belt notch.

How many of us will like to go to their graves and have their whole life defined by one blunder?

[DAC21]

I don’t care what you say, the Black Beatles parody he did years ago was hilarious. Have a listen...

https://youtu.be/8YPlIvTsP9g

[Eric in the Ozarks]

I remember “Put your hands on the radio...”

[gcparent]

Not sure in 89 but now IBM is in town of Poughkeepsie (very nice) not city of Poughkeepsie (bad).

[Ann Archy]

Liked listening to him most of the time, but I always thought that the Ranch was a FRAUD....just like the Clinton’s Foundation!

[Alberta's Child]

Imus won a large settlement from CBS radio after they fired him. I believe he was basically paid out for the remainder of his contract.

From what I understand, he filed a lawsuit against them and simply cited the provision in his contract that explicitly said his job was to say incendiary things on the air. LOL.

[skimbell]

I didn't care much for Imus in general, but I did love the Contessa Brewer blow up.

That was classic.

[faucetman]

I never liked Imus. He could be funny at times, disgusting at others.

I didn’t think the nappy headed hos thing was that big a deal. Mocking?, insulting?, shocking?, THAT was his JOB. His shtick.

What about Pollock jokes? Is that any different?

[Delta 21]

But it wouldnt have been racist if he said it to a bunch of redheads.

[Some Fat Guy in L.A.]

What about Pollock jokes? Is that any different?

He did mention (as the Right Reverend Dr. Billy Sol Hargus) that he went to evangelist school with a bunch of well known evangelists, but also with Jock Dublonski, "a Pollock dumb butt" if that will help. Jock set himself on fire in shop class while building a gas fired burning bush.