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| Birth Name(s) : Don Imus |
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Full Don Imus Biography
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. (born July 23, 1940) is an American humorist, philanthropist, writer, radio and television talk show host in the mould of a shock jock. His "drive time" weekday morning radio show, Imus in the Morning was aired over WNBC and WFAN in New York from 1971 to 1977 (when he was fired) and again from 1979 until it was canceled on April 12, 2007, in response to comments he made on air.
In 1979, he divorced his first wife, Harriett, and he married his second wife, Deirdre Coleman on December 17, 1994. He has four daughters from his first marriage and one son, Frederick Wyatt (nicknamed Wyatt, born July 3, 1998), from his current marriage. Both Don and Deirdre Imus are vegetarians.
Imus began as a radio disc jockey on June 28, 1968 at radio station KUTY in Palmdale, California. After hearing the morning disc-jockey, he went to the nearby station and persuaded the owner to hire him, saying he could do a better job. At the time, he was a brakeman on the Southern Pacific Railroad. He stayed at the station until 1969 when he left for a job at KJOY, a small radio station in Stockton, California. He was later fired for saying "hell" on air. After being fired in Stockton, he went to KXOA in Sacramento, California. His on-air pranks, such as calling up a restaurant and ordering 1200 hamburgers to go, made his show immensely popular and boosted ratings.
Imus was reinstated in September 1979 as WNBC's morning drive time host. From 1982 to 1985, the station also employed talk-radio host Howard Stern, and WNBC heavily promoted the pair in print and television ads, which often featured the slogan "If We Weren't So Bad, We Wouldn't Be That Good." Although Stern's show aired later in the day, Imus and Stern often made brief appearances on each other's shows, giving the audience an occasional glimpse of an on-and-off-air rivalry that continued for many years.
While on the air during the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Imus in the Morning program was among the few live American broadcasts to continue airing commercials well after the first reports of the attack. These commercials pre-empted word of the second plane hitting the south tower of the World Trade Center. The commercials that continued to air included one for a major airline, Continental, along with a jeweler based in the World Trade Center, and a spot read "live" on the air for a broadcasting school, in which it was said careers in broadcasting were "exploding." Imus noted the ironic writing, but continued reading the spot. His production staff also had great difficulty in simulcasting live TV news coverage when requested by Imus.
On April 9, Imus appeared on Al Sharpton's syndicated radio talk show to address the controversy. Sharpton called the comments "abominable", "racist", and "sexist", and repeated his earlier demand that Imus be fired. Imus said, "Our agenda is to be funny and 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."Imus's incident sparked a national debate on race relations
The next day, CBS Radio canceled Imus in the Morning, effective immediately. CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie Moonves stated:
"From the outset, I believe all of us have been deeply upset and revulsed by the statements that were made on our air about the young women who represented Rutgers University in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship with such class, energy and talent. There has been much discussion of the effect language like this has on our young people, particularly young women of color trying to make their way in this society. That consideration has weighed most heavily on our minds as we made our decision."
Imus was not the first radio personality to utter such a phrase on the air; Troi Torain (aka Star) used similar language in 2001 and was subsequently fired.
By May 2, 2007, Imus had hired prominent attorney Martin Garbus to pursue a wrongful termination lawsuit against CBS for the remaining $40 million on his five year contract. The contract contained a clause indicating CBS hired and supported Imus to exhibit "irreverant" and "controversial" programming. The lawsuit was raised to $120,000,000 to include the contract and damages.
For two weeks in the Fall of 2006, Imus delivered ongoing 'rants' against Texas Congressman Joe Barton, describing him as "a lying fat little skunk from Texas", a "pipsqueak" and a "coward and a crybaby". Imus also called Barton a "congressional dirtbag", because Barton used his position as a committee chair to prevent passage of the Combating Autism Act, which would authorize funds for autism research. In the weeks before Congress recessed on September 29, 2006, Barton used his chairmanship to prevent the legislative proposal from coming to a vote in the House, rousing the ire of Imus and his wife, staunch supporters of autism research. The bill already had been passed unanimously by the Senate, but Barton opposed the Senate bill's stipulation that centers of excellence investigate environmental factors.
On March 21, 1996, Imus delivered a speech at the Radio and Television Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C., which Imus later called "The Speech From Hell".
He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1989. In 2002, Talkers magazine ranked Imus as one of the greatest radio talk show hosts of all time. |
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