Deidre Imus Fills In

NEW YORK (AP) – Don Imus’s wife said Friday that his racist remarks about the Rutgers women’s basketball team had left “a lot of healing to do.”Deirdre Imus sat in for her husband on a radio fundraiser Friday, a day after CBS fired him for referring to team members as “nappy-headed hos.” His wife reflected briefly on the couple’s meeting with team members and on the injuries Governor Corzine, Democrat of New Jersey, suffered in a car crash on his way to the meeting Thursday night. Corzine, 60, was in critical condition Friday after undergoing surgery for a broken leg and other injuries.“This is all very tragic,” Deirdre Imus said. “There is a lot of healing to do here.”The meeting, held at the New Jersey governor’s mansion in Princeton, came after more than a week of uproar over Don Imus’ comments.“He feels awful, after meeting with these girls and having that opportunity to talk with them. He asked them, ‘I want to know the pain I caused, and I want to know how to fix this and change this,'” his wife said as she co-hosted the fundraiser.She said the players “gave us the opportunity to listen to what they had to say and why they’re hurting and how awful this is.”The fundraiser had been scheduled for Friday’s show long before Don Imus’ remarks set off a national debate about taste and tolerance. CBS abruptly fired Mr. Imus on Thursday from the radio show that he has hosted for nearly 30 years; the decision came a day after MSNBC said it would no longer televise the show.“He has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people,” said CBS Corp. chief executive Leslie Moonves in a memo to his staff. “In taking him off the air, I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our company.”Mr. Imus made the remark on April 11, the day after the Rutgers team lost in the national championship game. He met with team members for about three hours Thursday night at the governor’s mansion in Princeton, N.J.He left without commenting to reporters, but C. Vivian Stringer, the team’s coach, spoke briefly on the mansion’s steps.“We had a very productive meeting,” she said. “We were able to really dialogue. … Hopefully, we can put all of this behind us.”She did not say whether the team forgave Mr. Imus for the remarks.For Mr. Imus’ critics, his recent remarks were the latest in a line of objectionable statements by the ringmaster of a show that mixed high-minded talk about politics and culture with crude, locker-room humor.Mr. Imus apologized, and tried to explain himself before the Reverend Al Sharpton’s radio audience, appearing alternately contrite and combative. But many of his advertisers bailed in disgust, particularly after the Rutgers women spoke of their hurt.“He says he wants to be forgiven,” Sharpton said. “I hope he continues in that process. But we cannot afford a precedent established that the airways can commercialize and mainstream sexism and racism.”MSNBC and CBS initially suspended Imus for two weeks, and the heat only grew. He was then fired so swiftly that he had to do his last show awkwardly from an MSNBC studio – even though MSNBC wasn’t televising it – then was cut loose in the middle of an annual two-day radiothon to raise money for children’s charities. Imus’ wife and his longtime sidekick Charles McCord were called in to sub for him Friday.Some Mr. Imus fans considered his punishment harsh.“I’m embarrassed by this company,” said WFAN DJ Mike Francesa, whose sports show with partner Chris Russo is considered a likely successor to Imus in the morning. “I’m embarrassed by their decision. It shows, really, the worst lack of taste I’ve ever seen.”The cantankerous Imus, who was once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and was a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, was one of radio’s original shock jocks. His career took flight in the 1970s and with a cocaine- and vodka-fueled outrageous humor. After sobering up, he settled into a mix of highbrow talk about politics and culture, with locker room humor sprinkled in.He issued repeated apologies as protests intensified. But it wasn’t enough as everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Senators Clinton, Democrat of New York and Obama of Illinois joined the criticism.Losing Mr. Imus will be a financial hit to CBS Radio, which also suffered when Howard Stern departed for satellite radio. The program earns about $15 million in annual revenue for CBS, which owns Imus’ New York-based home radio station, WFAN-AM. CBS also manages Westwood One, the company that syndicates the show nationally.The radiothon had raised more than $1.3 million Thursday before Mr. Imus learned that he had lost his job; the total had grown to more than $2 million Friday, Deirdre Imus said.Last year’s radiothon raised a total of $2.9 million for three charities – Tomorrows Children’s Fund, CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch. The annual event has raised more than $40 million since 1990.“This may be our last radiothon, so we need to raise about $100 million,” Mr. Imus cracked at the start of the event.Volunteers were getting about 200 more pledges per hour than they did last year, with most callers expressing support for Imus, said phone bank supervisor Tony Gonzalez. The event benefited Tomorrows Children’s Fund, the CJ Foundation for SIDS and the Imus Ranch.Mr. Imus’ troubles have also affected his wife, whose book “Green This!” came out this week. Her promotional tour has been called off “because of the enormous pressure that Deirdre and her family are under,” said Simon & Schuster publicist Victoria Meyer.___Associated Press writers Rebecca Santana, Karen Matthews, Warren Levinson, Seth Sutel, Tara Burghart, Colleen Long and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.___On the Net:http://wfan.com/pages/332252.php

Deidre Imus Fills In

Deidre Imus Fills In

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