They say actions speak louder than words, but in Don Imus’ case the things that come out of his mouth often get more attention.
So here we go again…
Months after being allowed to return to the airwaves after getting booted for making racial comments about members of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team, Imus’ foot is back in his mouth again.
And yet again the radio host is left to defend his off-the-cuff remarks.
Yesterday Imus was discussing the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones with sports announcer Warner Wolf. At one point in the conversation Imus asked, “What color is he?”
Wolf told Imus that Jones is “African-American,” to which Imus responded: “There you go. Now we know.”
That remark sparked a public outcry by civil rights leaders saying that Imus’ pledge to change his racist ways (or at least his racist undertones) was all for show.
Civil rights leader Al Sharpton (one of the chief critics who successfully pushed for Imus’ firing from his televised radio show in April 2007) released a public statement admonishing Imus for his remark, adding that his National Action Network would look into the matter.
“I find the inference of his remark disturbing because it plays into stereotypes,” Sharpton said in the statement. “We will determine in the next day or so whether or not his remark warrants direct action on our part.”
Following Sharpton’s comments, Imus’ publicist went into overdrive and issued a statement to the media, which basically said that Imus had been misunderstood:
“I meant that he was being picked on because he’s black,” Imus said in a statement released by his spokesman.
Imus latest brouhaha comes just six months after Imus was given a new show on WABC-AM following his firing from MSNBC and CBS Radio for making a sexist and racially charged comment about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team. The day he returned to the airwaves Imus gave a lengthy on-air apology and pledged to use his new show to foster an open dialogue on race relations.
What do you make of the latest Imus controversy?