free speech= you're fired!???

[seacrestkristi]

At first, yes, but now, the more I think about it , the more I hope they speak out as much as possible!!! Just too easy to forget about. So bring it on, gulls! They were the abused ones so they need to work it out how they see fit. They need the healing, though, comments like that it affect all women!

 

[JoshMclean]

They need healing? :funn:

 

[Jennifer Steele]

You are so right! Finally someone has the balls to say it! Do people really want to live in a country where everything we say is scrutinized and possibly punished?

Do you mean that finally someone has the balls to say that someone like Imus can say whatever he wants to say and that people like Sharpton and Jackson don't? Yes, that's "ballsy."

 

[Smiling JOe]

Why are advertisers pulling out of the show? Other than the obvious reasons of companies not liking contraversy, I have a reason. The majority of the people do not listen to nor watch Imus. So these same people do not hear the ads for the sponsors of Imus' show. I have listened to only a couple of the news stories for Imus, yet I can tell you that Target is one of the sponsors who pulled out. Target cannot pay for advertising like that, and they received it at zero cost. Actually, they got it for even less than zero, because they are not paying the Imus people and MSNBC and whatever radio company upon which Imus is carried. Businesses have to be savvy in today's world, and this is one heck of a savvy move, in my opinion.

 

[30A Skunkape]

Man I was hoping Anna Nicole's baby daddy story was going to squelch this saga. The PC hustlers are making sure the story does not die and the willing lapdogs in the media are more than willing to assist with this. I think the ratings demonstrate that nobody listens to Imus, and for that matter, MSNBC's ratings are in the tank as well. For goodness sake, what is the point of silencing an idiot nobody was tuning in to hear in the first place?

 

[JoshMclean]

We live in a sad world when those are two of the biggest stories of the last month :roll:

 

[Jennifer Steele]

We live in a sad world when those are two of the biggest stories of the last month :roll:

Or there's that little war thingy we see every day - I think THAT makes this a very sad world to live in.

 

[Paula]

I'm fine if he gets fired, suspended or whatever for what he said. We certainly have free speech in this country, but employers/advertisers are also free to select the people they want representing them, working for them, etc. If advertisers are pulling their ads off the show, they are free to do that. If the network feels they are likely to lose business because of what he said (even if they do believe in free speech), they may be making the decision based on a business case (based on finances or corporate image). He's not going to jail for what he said (that wouldn't be free speech), but others are free to make decisions based on his use of free speech. Free speech doesn't mean no consequences. And there may be certain policies at the network/radio station and he may have gone too far past those boundaries -- maybe this was the straw that broke the camel's back and they said "enough already".

All that said, so far he did a nice apology. And the apology should be sincere and not simply a career move (and I think it may have been sincere) -- it should be for his own peace of mind and to help the young women and others he offended.

 

[John R]

You're Fired !!

NEW YORK (CNN) -- CBS has canceled Don Imus' radio show, effective immediately, after an uproar over his racist and sexist comments about Rutgers women's basketball team.

The decision by CBS came a day after NBC Universal decided to cancel his simulcast on MSNBC and followed nearly a week of cries for the firing of the radio host.

The Rev. Al Sharpton applauded the Imus firings as a victory in the battle against abuse of the airwaves. (Watch Sharpton say his efforts won't stop with Imus Video)

Rutgers University told CNN it would not comment on CBS' decision, but a source close to New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine confirmed the team met Thursday night with Imus at the Governor's Mansion.

CBS said "all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air," in a written statement from CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves, announcing the decision. (Watch analysts weigh in on CBS' decision Video)

CBS, which carried Imus on 61 radio stations, had originally announced it would suspend his show for two weeks.

CNNMoney.com reports "Imus in the Morning" generated about $20 million in revenue last year, about one percent of CBS Radio division's total. (Full storyexternal link)
Imus: 'I've apologized enough'

The outrage started last week, when Imus described the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos" the day after the team lost the NCAA championship to the University of Tennessee. (Gallery: Other controversial comments aired on Imus show)

Amid the outcry over his on-air racial slur, Imus said Thursday that he had "apologized enough" and that he will not go on "some talk show tour."

"I'm not going to go talk to Larry King or Barbara Walters or anyone else," Imus said on his flagship station in New York, WFAN-AM, which is owned by CBS Corp. and distributed "Imus in the Morning" nationally.

"The only other people I want to talk to are these young women at the team, and then that's it," Imus said.

NBC News President Steve Capus, appearing on CNN, said Imus' comments had "touched a nerve" within the organization and firing him was "the only action we could take." (Vote: Is Imus' career over?)

Despite being dropped by NBC, Imus hosted his show from the MSNBC studios in New Jersey, though he did not appear on TV.

"As you know, MSNBC folded up yesterday, so we're just on the radio," he said.

Imus was broadcasting his 18th annual radio charity fundraiser, which has pulled in $50 million since 1990. It ends Friday.

"This may be our last radio-thon, so we need to raise $100 million dollars," Imus said, chuckling.

According to The Associated Press, Imus raised $1 million in the first five hours of Thursday's fundraiser.

The disparaging remark prompted eight companies to pull their ads from Imus' show: Staples, General Motors, Sprint Nextel, GlaxoSmithKline, Procter & Gamble, PetMed Express, American Express and Bigelow Tea.
Sharpton: 'No champagne bottle popping'

Sharpton had pressured CBS to cancel Imus' morning show, but the issue "was never about Don Imus," he said Thursday.

"It was about the misuse of the airwaves," he said.

"We cannot afford a precedent established that the airwaves can be used to commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism. But there will be no champagne bottle popping by those of us involved in this. This is not about gloating," Sharpton said.

Sharpton said he wants to show the media and the public that it is not necessary to "be misogynist and racist to be creative or to be commercial in this country." (Watch an analysis of whether other shows need taming Video)

Earlier Thursday, the father of a player on the Rutgers team joined Sharpton at a rally outside the network's offices.

Linzell Vaughn, father of sophomore center Kia Vaughn, said Imus' comments were "like a slap in the face."

"Do not disrespect our children," he said. (Players talk of hurt, seeking understanding)

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson also spoke on Thursday afternoon outside CBS' offices and called for Imus' firing.

"This is not the first time this has happened on this show," he said, and spoke of previous Imus comments that Jackson characterized as racist and sexist.

"'Three strikes you're out' ought to apply to this position," he said.

Bruce Gordon, a member of CBS Corp.'s board of directors, also said he wanted Imus fired from WFAN.

Speaking Thursday on CNN's "American Morning," Gordon said that, speaking "as an African-American man in this country, Don Imus violated our community. He attacked beautiful, talented, classy women and when those women showed themselves to the country, I think that those words matched with those images made it clear to America that Don Imus was wrong."

Gordon is a former president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.