Rutgers Player Sues Don Imus Over Radio Host’s Remarks
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A member of the Rutgers women’s basketball team sued Don Imus and CBS yesterday, saying the radio personality’s sexist and racist comments about the team damaged her reputation.
Kia Vaughn filed the slander and defamation of character lawsuit in state Supreme Court the same day Mr. Imus, who was fired after his comments, settled with CBS Radio in a deal that pre-empts a threatened $120 million breach-of-contract suit against CBS.
Ms. Vaughn’s lawsuit, believed to be the first by a player in the case, says Mr. Imus and his former co-host Bernard McGuirk along with CBS Corp., CBS Radio, MSNBC, and other outlets that broadcast his show are legally responsible for damage done to her character and reputation. There is no dollar amount listed in the suit.
Ms. Vaughn’s attorney, Richard Ancowitz, said, “The full effect of the damage remains to be seen.” “This is about Kia Vaughn’s good name,” Mr. Ancowitz said. “She would do anything to return to her life as a student and respected basketball player — a more simple life before Imus opened his mouth.” Mr. Imus referred to the basketball players as “nappy-headed hos” on his nationally syndicated radio program April 4 and became the target of heated protests led by the Reverend Al Sharpton. He was fired shortly after. But he overcame a major hurdle in his widely expected comeback with the settlement yesterday. It’s possible he will return to the air.
The Vaughn suit claims that the comments were made in the context of a news or sports report and therefore Mr. Imus had certain standards to abide by but ignored them. The suit reprints the script from the “Imus in the Morning” show on which the comments were made.
“The … false, defamatory, sexually denigrating and slanderous statements and comments against the women athletes of said basketball team were heard, believed and understood by millions of listeners … as factual pronouncements concerning the character, chastity and reputation of the plaintiff,” the lawsuit says.
Ms. Vaughn was humiliated, embarrassed, and publicly mocked for the comments, the suit claims. After the comments were made, she said: “Unless they’ve given ‘ho’ a whole new definition, that’s not what I am.”
