“nappy-headed ho’s”

April 7, 2007
Networks Condemn Remarks by Imus

By DAVID CARR
On Wednesday morning, Don Imus called the students who play for the
Rutgers University women’s basketball team a bunch of “nappy-headed
ho’s.”

Even for Mr. Imus, a nationally syndicated radio host who knows his way
around an insult, it was a shocking remark, one that seemed to impugn
both the physical and moral characteristics of a team composed mostly
of black players.

What followed was a familiar dance for Mr. Imus and the media companies
that profit from his ability to shock his way to big audiences:
outrage, indignation and, eventually, the expression of deep regret.

And so on Thursday, Mr. Imus wondered aloud on his show what the big
deal was, saying people should not be offended by “some idiot comment
meant to be amusing.”

But as often occurs in a modern media drama, Mr. Imus’s remarks were
picked up on the Web, in this case by the Media Matters for America
site (mediamatters.org). And by Friday, both his radio and television
outlets were getting out 10-foot poles.

MSNBC, which simulcasts Mr. Imus’s show on cable television, issued an
apology, noting that the program is not a production of the network;
NBC, its parent company, called the comments “deplorable.”

CBS Radio, which syndicates the radio show, was sorry as well: “We are
disappointed by Imus’s actions earlier this week which we find
completely inappropriate,” the company said in a statement. “We fully
agree that a sincere apology was called for and will continue to
monitor the program’s content going forward.”

For his part, Mr. Imus appeared doubly sorry: for a time on Friday, the
printed version of his apology, made on Friday morning’s show — he
termed his remarks “thoughtless and stupid” — appeared twice on his
home page at msnbc.com.

Mr. Imus is one of the most popular radio hosts in the country, with
millions of daily listeners on more than 70 stations around the
country. The television simulcast of his show on MSNBC is surging in
the ratings — “Imus in the Morning,” which the network simulcasts with
the New York radio station WFAN, gained 100,000 viewers in the last
year, for an average daily total of 358,000, according to Nielsen
estimates.

But even with Mr. Imus’s success, his comments gave NBC executives
pause. “We take this matter very seriously,” said Allison Gollust,
senior vice president for news communications at NBC. “We find the
comments to be deplorable, and we are continuing to review the
situation.”

This is hardly the first time Mr. Imus has made racially insensitive
remarks during a broadcast. In a 1997 interview with “60 Minutes,” he
said he chose one white staffer to tell racial jokes on his show. He
once referred to the PBS anchor Gwen Ifill as “a cleaning lady.” And in
2001 he took a pledge, guided by the Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence
Page, to refrain from making further racist comments on his program.

Mr. Imus’s defenders say that he is actually an equal-opportunity
offender: Jews, gays and Roman Catholics are also his frequent targets.
Yesterday’s show, on Good Friday, included a song couplet that managed
to rhyme the words “resurrection” and “erection.”

Mr. Imus made his on-air apology yesterday morning amid the topical
humor.

“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,” Mr. Imus said. “It was completely
inappropriate, and we can understand why people were offended. Our
characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry.”

Yesterday’s show also included an interview with Tim Russert, the host
of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” one of a great number of political and media
heavyweights who appear regularly on “Imus in the Morning.” (The NBC
spokeswoman said the statement expressing regret about the remarks
reflected Mr. Russert’s feelings about the matter as well.)

Both Senator Joseph I. Lieberman, independent of Connecticut, and
Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, recently appeared on the
show, and media figures including Frank Rich of The New York Times and
Chris Matthews of MSNBC have also spent time with Mr. Imus. Senator
Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, appeared on the show some time ago
to promote his book “The Audacity of Hope.”

Richard Prince, a columnist who writes a blog called Journal-isms about
media and diversity, said that Mr. Imus was inoculated to some degree
by his powerful relationships.

“One of the most offensive things about the whole episode is not just
MSNBC playing ball with Imus,” Mr. Prince said. “Not only is the
network supporting this kind of program, but think of all the prominent
journalists and politicians who are also enabling him and these kinds
of comments.”

Mr. Imus’s radio show is idiosyncratic in tone, ranging from thoughtful
discussions of politics to the kind of coarse talk that would turn
heads in a locker room.

“That’s some rough girls from Rutgers,” Mr. Imus said on Wednesday.
“Man, they got tattoos ...” The program’s executive producer, Bernard
McGuirk, agreed: “Some hardcore ho’s,” he said. Imus continued, “That’s
some nappy-headed ho’s there, I’m going to tell you that.”

Later in the show, Mr. McGuirk characterized the women’s collegiate
basketball championship Tuesday night, between Rutgers and the
University of Tennessee, as “the Jigaboos versus the Wannabes.”

In a joint statement, Myles Brand, the president of the National
Collegiate Athletic Association, and Richard L. McCormick, the
president of Rutgers, said Mr. Imus’s attempt at humor represented an
assault on human dignity. “The N.C.A.A. and Rutgers University are
offended by the insults on MSNBC’s Don Imus program toward the 10 young
women on the Rutgers basketball team,” they said. “It is unconscionable
that anyone would use the airways to utter such disregard for the
dignity of human beings who have accomplished much and deserve great
credit. It is appropriate that Mr. Imus and MSNBC have apologized.”

But for Bryan Monroe, the president of the National Association of
Black Journalists and the editor of Ebony and Jet magazines, Mr. Imus’s
apology was not enough and called on journalists to boycott the show.
“It was stunning, insulting and unbelievable that he went there,” Mr.
Monroe said. “But his apology was too little, too late. No matter how
contrite, his words hurt so many so deeply that after 40 years in the
radio business, it is time for him to go.”

For the time being, though, the apology seemed to be sufficient.