by I suppose it was inevitable: Don Imus of “Rutgers Nappy Headed-Hos” fame is back on radio as of Monday and one can only begin to wonder about the why of his return.
Imus is pulling in $20 million USD a year
for his resurrected show on the mega-station WABC in New York and while
he has so far been full of apology and wallowing in his own woe —
there is no doubt Imus, at 67 — sounds tired and bored and
ill-of-health.
Imus only returned to try to save his reputation in the radio industry and not to enlighten us with the wisdom of a changed man.
The Imus show
has been riddled with technical difficulties as evidenced yesterday
when the simulcast of his radio show on RFD television created more
problems than entertainment.
A show at that level of national exposure should not have that sort of
technical growing pains on the second day of broadcast.
One
of the most obvious, unfortunate, and ill-fitting changes in the Imus
show is the addition of a “Black Sidekick” — is Imus now finally and
wholly Howard Stern? — named Karith Foster who self-identifies as a
“Black Jew.” Ugh.
Imus’ black sidekick
is an Oxford-educated Texas cowgirl whose career has ranged from
broadcast journalism to stand-up comedy, sources told The Post.
Karith Foster, a Harlem resident who grew up outside Dallas, was
brought on by Imus to ease tension stirred up by his racist comment
about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, which got him booted in
April, sources said.
Foster was raised in upscale Plano, Texas, which she describes on her
Web site as having “the ethnic diversity of a Klan rally.”
My sense is Ms. Foster will not last long on the show.
She’s there for show only — she provides Imus an umbrella of
protection from a return of his Racist comments — but she is
untalented, grating, and has a voice that inspires one to drag their
fingernails across a blackboard in a harrowing imitation of the sound
her warbling laugh creates in the listener’s head.
The greatest revenge, I suppose, for the Rutgers Women’s Basketball
team is the return of Imus where he slowly dies and fades away into
irrelevance instead of being infamously branded in our forever memory
as burning out on their time and in their good name.
I cannot believe he is back that quickly ?
Nicola —
Yep! Off in April. Back in December. Quick turnaround, eh? It makes you wonder how that magic was able to so quickly happen. 😉
Hi David,
I still remember the incident and I just don’t believe my eyes right now.
I wonder what is the deal?
An almost similar incident occurred in India recently, an RJ made a derogatory comment on the champion on a TV singing competition.
This radio jockey stereotyped the singer as “belonging from a watchmen community” and said –
“…as this guy won the contest every mall/shop owner will have to watch their own propert…”
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Gorkhas-seek-apology-for-RJ-Nitins-comment-on-Tamang-want-Centre-to-intervene/222340/
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-09-29-indian-idol_N.htm
That’s a fascinating parallel, Katha, thanks for sharing it with us!
Imus makes a lot of money for his stations so this is definitely about money outweighing morality in every sense.
The funny thing is Imus was popular because he was improper and a jerk — and now he’s forced into the good-guy role and it isn’t fitting him very well. We’ll see how long his good side lasts before his more popular dark side resurfaces to insult people.
Hi David,
If he is a “genuine hater” (which I think he is…) I don’t think he can keep the “good-guy facade” much longer.
But again, he might be thrown out and back – who knows?
You’re right about not being able to hide from your true self, Katha. I don’t think the facade will last very long because his true fans won’t listen to him playing nice.
As long as he wants to be on the air — he’ll find a station that will take him just because of his past greatness and his penchant for making history even if it has been cruel and at the expense of others in the past.
If he really did make the antisemitic remarks that our sometimes unreliable wikipedian friend claims that he made, his new cast member will likely not last long.
Out in April, back in December – it’s an April-December romance! 🙂
Heh! Well said, Gordon! However, I think his new sidekick is getting paid a lot of money to sit next to him and “vouch” for his goodness as a person.
That was the most reprehensible thing of the whole dirty episode. Then, as now, Imus keeps saying about himself, “I’m a good person. I’m a good person who did a bad thing.” It’s like a broken record and in radio there’s nothing worse than that! 😀
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Thanks!
Please forgive me for saying I told you so.
Enough of us listen to make dinero for those who hire him. Mucho dinero. Which should be all that needs to be said. And points the finger of blame exactly where it belongs.
That’s a good point. If no one listened, no advertising could be sold. Sometimes the worst of us gets celebrated over the better in us.