NEW YORK - Don Imus' critics assailed him for a racially charged
on-air remark that got him fired. On his return to the airwaves, he
brought with him some young black cast members.
It remained to be seen whether his newly diversified lineup and his
pledge to foster a dialogue on race relations would quiet his critics
and soften any future blows dealt in a show that Imus himself said is
built in part on making fun of others.
"I can only wait and see if his deeds will follow up his words,"
said the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the strongest voices calling for
Imus' firing after the shock jock called the Rutgers University
women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos."
"The fact that he now has a black sidekick and that he's on delay
clearly may speak of some of the measures that his new employers have
put in to make sure that there's not a repeat offense," Sharpton said.
Phil Boyce, WABC program director and a Citadel Broadcasting Corp.
vice president, said he could not say whether race played a role in
hiring black comedians Karith Foster and Tony Powell because Imus
himself chose the new additions. Citadel owns WABC and four of the 21
other stations broadcasting the show, which premiered Monday, eight
months after Imus, 67, was fired from CBS Radio and the MSNBC cable
network.
Also returning was Bernard McGuirk, the producer who instigated the
Rutgers comment and was fired as well.
Calling herself Imus' "new sidekick," Foster said after the
broadcast that she hoped those who were most angered by his comments
could feel represented by her on the air.
"They want change, and what better way to incite change than from
the inside?" she said.
Foster said her work on the show would be influenced by her
experiences growing up in Plano, Texas, which she describes on her
Web site as an "affluent suburb north of Dallas with the ethnic
diversity of a Klan rally."
"I think I can speak from the viewpoint of an African-American, and
especially one who can see and understand both sides," she said. "I
grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood but obviously my family
is black. I have black friends, and I live in Harlem. I see and can
understand where everybody's coming from, which I think makes for a
great mediator."
Powell, whose stand-up credits include "Showtime at the Apollo,"
said his hiring was not a token gesture.
Imus "actually wanted to improve the quality of his show, and so he
went out and he got talented individuals to help him improve the
quality of the show," Powell said. "The proof is in the pudding and
the proof is in the product."
But Kim Gandy, president of the National Organization for Women,
remained skeptical.
"Why comedians?" she asked of the new hires. "That's the only thing
women and blacks can do is be funny? I don't find that encouraging."
But, she added, "We have to wait and see what their contributions in
fact are."
Boyce countered that Foster was more than a stand-up comic. Before
appearing on NBC's "Last Comic Standing" and other shows, she was a
production team member on ABC's "The View," he noted.
Besides, he said: "We're doing a radio show. Our job here is to be
interesting and entertaining."
Michael Harrison, publisher of industry trade journal Talkers
magazine, said the presence of a black man and a woman on the show
could help soften the impact of any future comments Imus makes. For
example, he said, sidekick Robin Quivers had helped shock jock Howard
Stern with perceptions among women.
Foster, who said she was appalled by Imus' Rutgers comment, said
she wouldn't give the host any undeserved soft landings.
"I'm not going to be a sycophant," she said. "If and when I need
to, I will speak up. That's who I am. That's how I was raised."
In an apologetic 15-minute monologue before a live audience, Imus
promised to use his second chance to discuss race relations. People
paid $100 a ticket to see Monday's show, with the proceeds going to
Imus' charity.
"I will never say anything in my lifetime that will make any of
these young women at Rutgers regret or feel foolish that they
accepted my apology and forgave me," he said.
Even after all the uproar, it appeared Imus could still draw
high-profile guests. Monday's lineup included noted presidential
historian Doris Kearns Goodwin and presidential hopefuls Chris Dodd
and John McCain.
In the end, Harrison predicted, the spotlight on Imus will simply
fade away, while the host continues "to be the equal opportunity
offender which people know he is."
"The people who are interested in this issue will lose interest in
Imus because they have bigger fish to fry," he said.
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AP Radio correspondent Warren Levinson contributed to this report.
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