Talk:Don Imus

Remarks that lead to cancellation of show
For people less familiar with US American culture, it's not quite obvious what was supposedly racist about the remarks. Maybe someone could generally explain what the controversy was about? Thanks, Ibn Battuta 01:11, 23 May 2007 (UTC)


 * "Nappy Headed" is considered racist when used by someone that is not nappy headed themselves, especially when used in a tone of insult. So for example, Stevie Wonder's song "I Wish" uses the term, and Imus got the term from Spike Lee's School Daze, but Imus' use of it, by not being part of the group himself, insulted the Rutger's players, and other people within the group.  Many people use derogatory terms about their own group, but avoid using the derogatory terms of other groups.  I can say "squarehead", but would possibly be offended if someone else used it in a negative way.  Just part of the politically correct movement in the US to temper free speech with a lack of insult.  IMO, of course.  CodeCarpenter 18:32, 4 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Except Imus himself is clearly nappy headed himself and in the context of the discussion it couldn't of been used as intentionally racist since he was comparing the Rutgers team to the Tennessee team who is also mostly African American. Wikidudeman  (talk) 22:23, 4 June 2007 (UTC)

Racism
I agree with the point made by Ibn Battuta above. For a non-American, the extreme furore of the over comments is confusing and basically unexplained in the article, particularly the racism angle. (When I first read it, the only thing I clearly understood was hos and while the comments were obviously offensive and perhaps sexist, it didn't seem to have a clear racist angle.) Indeed the term 'nappy head' is generally used in a offensive racist or bigoted way to refer to an Arab, Muslim or Sikh or someone else who wears a veil, turban or other hair, head or face covering in some Commonwealth countries which is clearly not what was meant here. The term jigaboo similarly may not be understood. Also was the furore solely because of the nappy head and jigaboo comment? I originally was not aware of the racist history of the terms used, and so thought the comparison was the thing that made it racist. But from what I can tell, the composition is not that different with the Tennessee team having perhaps 3 white and the rest black and Ruthers 2 white. Was any discussion made of the comparison? This section is already rather long, but this length is perhaps partially merited given the effect it had. But I'm not suggesting it be expanded rather less important details should be cut and details which better explaint the controversy to non-Americans added. Alternatively wikilinks can be added to the appropriate terms Nil Einne (talk) 11:00, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm still looking for it, but Imus did a very, very (after his firing) announcement of how he eventually met with the Rutger's women's basketball team and apologized to them personally. I read the transcript of it somewhere, where he gave a much better personal apology to the women of the team directly. He commented that it took place AFTER he had been terminated from MSNBC/CBS. The statement was something along the lines of how these young women were not "part of the game" (ie politics) but were scholars and athletes playing the game that they loved and had brought them to that point and expressed his true condolence for having disrespected them. The statement continued onto how he accepted his firing for that alone and emphasized that the Rutgers women's basketball team accepted his apology personally. I think if that statement can be located it should close out the entire section regarding that controversy. My thoughts. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.230.172.149 (talk) 04:10, 17 November 2009 (UTC)

Suggested deletion
I suggest that the FAIR-sourced statement in the article be deleted per this inasmuch as FAIR should not be used for contentious statements in BLPs.--Epeefleche (talk) 03:24, 11 May 2010 (UTC)

Anti-homosexual comments
As a homosexual I find it hard to believe that the word 'lesbian' could be derogatory. Lesbian is a normal, inoffensive term for a female homosexual. Either this needs context (a negative remark about a lesbian/lesbians), or else it needs to be deleted. 'Dyke' is an offensive term for a female homosexual, it would be more the equivalent to 'faggot'. 89.204.241.185 (talk) 13:06, 5 June 2010 (UTC) Joe
 * This section also struck me as odd. This isn't one of those issues where a community refers to themselves by one word, while considering that word offensive if spoken by others. Lesbian is a commonly accepted and politically correct term for homosexual women. Maybe someone put the wrong word in there by mistake, unless of course he uses the word to describe people who are not openly gay and intends this to be an insult?--Senor Freebie (talk) 02:58, 18 June 2010 (UTC)

Racism of Don Imus, for the benefit of extremely obtuse Wikipedia contributers
Regarding Imus comment about the Rutgers women's basketball team, context is everything. In the years leading up to this:

"...Imus established himself as the most openly racist broadcaster in America. Imus reportedly referred to media reporter Howard Kurtz as a “boner-nosed ... beanie-wearing Jew boy.” William C. Rhoden, a black sports writer for The New York Times, was called “a quota hire.” Of Times White House reporter Gwen Ifill, Imus said, “They let the cleaning lady cover the White House.” Of Attorney General Janet Reno: “Ms. Reno, of course, has Parkinson’s disease, has a noticeable tremor. ... I don’t know how she gets that lipstick on looking like a rodeo clown.” According to Stern and Quivers, his bitter rivals, he had respectively referred to them as a “Jew bastard” and a “nigger.” ("The Trigger Presidency," 'The New Republic,' April 24, 2019 Charlie Lomax

Younger Wife
Is there one 'conservative' / Republican out there who hasn't dumped his first wife for a younger woman? 101.51.226.28 (talk) 00:40, 21 June 2013 (UTC)
 * Rudy Giuliani is hardly an example of decorum, but his wives and girlfriends have all been close to his own age. Timothy Horrigan (talk) 05:27, 28 December 2019 (UTC)

Destruction of Soviet Flag at 30 Rockefeller Plaza
On September 1st, 1983, Don Imus was alerted that the USSR (Soviet Union, now the Russian Federation) had mistakenly shot down a Korean Air Lines civilian flight killing 269 passengers and crew.

(Details are on the Wiki page: Korean Air Flight 007 Details )

Don Imus went to Rockefeller Plaza, where flags were then flown of all of the major UN members, climbed the flag pole with the USSR flag, ripped it off the flag pole, tore it into pieces, and returned to the studio. This resulted in a police officer being placed to guard the flag of the USSR to prevent subsequent attempts to destroy the flag in protest; this being ironic due to the significant dislike for the USSR by the large majority of the United States during the Cold War. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.66.201.204 (talk) 13:38, 14 July 2013 (UTC)
 * A publicity stunt by Imus is only worth including to the extent that it received substantial coverage in independent reliable sources (which, of course, was the reason for the stunt to begin with). - Sum mer PhD  (talk) 15:44, 14 July 2013 (UTC)

Planned edits
I was contacted via OTRS regarding some alleged errors in this article. I am working my way through them, and anticipate some edits as a result. If anyone objects to my edit, please discuss here, either in this section or a separate section below. For substantive edits, I will create a new section.-- S Philbrick (Talk)  15:17, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

2001 attacks
There was a paragraph added in 2007 by an IP which alleged that his show continued to air commercials while covering the September 2001 attacks. This statement was unsourced. I did a brief search, and found nothing to support it. My usual practice when finding an unsourced statement which ought to be referenced is to add a citation needed template, and give anyone, in particular the editor who added it, some time to add a reference. I have not done that in this case for two reasons. The content is arguably a BLP violation, which should be removed first, and discussed to determine whether it can be restored. Second, the editor who added the material hasn't edited since 2008, so it is unlikely they will be wandering by to add a source. For this reason, I removed the material. If anyone feels it belongs, let's discuss what should be included here first.-- S Philbrick (Talk)  15:29, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

Contessa Brewer
In the section Accusations of defamatory speech there is a bullet point about Contessa Brewer. While the quotes appear to be sourced, the opening sentence claims he berated her, " which caused her to leave the show". That claim is not supported. Simply removing the unsourced sentence leaves a gap, so my present plan is to remove the sentence, and change "she" to "Contessa Brewer" in the next sentence. There may be a more artful way to make the edit, please suggest alternatives.-- S Philbrick (Talk)  15:47, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

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Controversy section
Wikipedia style is to not have a controversy section. Over half of this article is controversy section. The controversies should be incorporated into the general history of his career. Ashmoo (talk) 12:04, 2 June 2017 (UTC)

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Did Don Imus smoke?
The article says that Imus died from "complications from lung disease". Did Don Imus smoke? Betathetapi454 (talk) 11:10, 10 May 2024 (UTC)