 |
| One less bigot in the world. Don Imus died in Texas. |
Don Imus has passed away at a College Station, Texas hospital today at the age of 79.
One of the early pioneers of "shock jock" radio, Imus paved the way for Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, Sean "Softball" Hannity, Glenn Beck and numerous others.
Once a stable of morning radio for decades, Imus was known for the outrageous comments about politics, sports and just about anything he could get a grip on.
His wife, conservative agitator Deirdre, his sons Wyatt and Lieutenant Zachary Don Cates were at the bedside when he passed away.
Known as the "I-man", Imus made a career off shocking his listeners with his unique style of broadcasting.
Imus had a philanthropy for children. He offered $40 million for groups including the CJ Foundation for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. He ran a New Mexico ranch for dying children and often used his radio show for donations.
Imus, born in Riverside, California was the son of a rancher. He was the oldest of two boys --- his brother Fred later became a "Imus in the Morning" regular. He moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where Imus joined the Marines before taking jobs as a train brakeman and uranium miner.
At the age of 28, he began his job as a radio deejay. He would start his career at a local station in Stockton. It only lasted a few years. He uttered on the airwaves, "hell."
The setback didn't stop him, he maintained the controversy despite the cannon firing.
He moved a bigger market and grew. He was Billboard's "Disc Jockey of the Year" award for medium-sized markets after a stunt where he ordered 1,200 hamburgers to go from a local McDonald's.
He would move to Cleveland, Ohio and became a top-DJ for the region.
Imus was struggling through the years. He was addicted to alcohol and cocaine. The agitator would struggle through programs and was let go again. He ended on a sour note during the 1980s.
He would end up taking rehab. He checked into a Florida rehabilitation center and returned to the radio a lot stronger.
He would join MSNBC in 1996 and host the "Imus in the Morning" simulcast through its studios.
He hosted many entertainers, politicians, people in the news and commentators on the show.
He would soon get into a feud with fellow shock jock, Howard Stern. They ended up becoming biter rivals and they were competing for the number one spot. It would end up being Stern by a landslide.
Imus would carry the torch on MSNBC until 2007. When he was commenting about Rutgers University and its women's basketball team, he made the comments about the team being "nappy headed hos."
His former co-host Bernard McGuirk said the team were "jigaboos versus the wannabes." The agitator did also call the women "hardcore hos."
Media Matter for America recorded the remarks and it took it viral.
The radio station WNBC and MSNBC were flooded with angry callers and public outrage.
Imus at first defended the remarks.
"The phrase didn't originate in the white community. That phrase originated in the Black community. Young Black women all through that society are demeaned and disparaged by their own Black men, and they are called that name in Black hip-hop."
That earned a public condemnation from the NAACP and National Action Network. The founder of NAN, Al Sharpton called the remarks repudiable and disgusting. He wanted his ass fired out the cannon.
Imus was forced to apologize and address the controversy on Keepin' It Real with Al Sharpton.
"I want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regarding the Rutgers women's basketball team, which lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship game on Tuesday. It was completely inappropriate and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."
In a heated debate, Imus and Sharpton were at one another over how "abominable", "racist", and "sexist" the remarks were. Imus said, "Our agenda is to be funny sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far. Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it."
Shortly after, MSNBC placed Imus in the freezer. Far-white racist Pat Buchanan said that Imus was being "railroaded" and he was a "good guy" who made a bad mistake and apologized for it.
The outcry was so massive. It forced CBS Radio, WNBC and MSNBC to fire Imus out the cannon.
Some on the far-white defended Imus. One in particular is that annoying conservative agitator Sean "Softball" Hannity. The softball found Imus was a victim of the "far-left" and "Soros-related" conspiracies. He would soon help rebuild Imus from the ground up.
Imus would secure a new deal with Citadel Broadcasting and get a spot on WABC, the leading talk radio station in the nation. He would also pick up a deal with RFD-TV to simulcast his show.
For at least five years, Imus dominated RFD-TV in the mornings. It was the softball who pressured Roger Ailes to hire Imus.
Imus would soon replace Alexis Glick and take the morning spot on Fox Business Network.
Imus would be on Fox Business for the next five years before he would hang it up for good.
Citing his health concerns and Cumulus Radio cutting staff, Imus retired from the radio for good.
Imus settled in New Mexico and Texas during his final years.
One less hatemonger on the airwaves. All that's left is Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean "Softball" Hannity, Glenn Beck and Mark Levin. They're getting up there and sooner or later we might clear the air of that noise pollution.
No comments:
Post a Comment