Category: Arts & Culture Key figures: Don Imus, Bernard McGuirk, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Les Moonves (CBS Radio CEO), Jeff Zucker (NBC Universal CEO)
Summary
On April 4, 2007, during a broadcast discussing the NCAA women’s basketball championship game between Rutgers University and Tennessee, radio host Don Imus and producer Bernard McGuirk made racially derogatory comments about the Rutgers women’s players. Imus referred to them as “nappy-headed hos,” while McGuirk used the term “jigaboos” — a racial slur dating to minstrel-era entertainment. The exchange lasted approximately 15 seconds of a program that broadcast simultaneously on WFAN radio in New York and simulcast on MSNBC cable television, reaching an estimated combined audience of 2.75 million listeners and viewers.
Despite Imus issuing an apology on-air on April 6 and again on April 9 during a two-hour appearance on The Al Sharpton Show, the controversy escalated as the Rutgers players held a press conference on April 11, with team captain Essence Carson stating: “We are a group of strong, confident, young women who are here and exemplify what it means to be a student-athlete.” MSNBC announced the same day that it would immediately cease simulcasting Imus in the Morning. On April 12, CBS Radio cancelled the program effective immediately after a meeting between Rev. Jesse Jackson, Rev. Al Sharpton, and CBS President Les Moonves, who stated the network was “deeply upset and revulsed” by the remarks.
Background
Imus in the Morning had aired on WFAN since 1988 and on MSNBC since 1996. The program attracted an audience of approximately 2.75 million daily listeners and was known for its mix of political commentary, celebrity interviews, and shock-jock humor. Imus’s guests included prominent journalists, politicians, and authors — notably including senators, presidential candidates, and news anchors who used the show as a platform. The program generated an estimated $20 million in annual revenue for MSNBC’s cable operations and an estimated $30 million for CBS Radio’s WFAN.
Don Imus had faced prior controversies over racially charged comments; in 2001, he had used derogatory language about Black journalists and Jewish media executives. The 2007 incident differed in that it targeted identified private citizens — the Rutgers student-athletes — rather than public figures, which amplified the public response.
Timeline of Events
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| April 3, 2007 | Rutgers women’s basketball team plays in NCAA championship game, losing to Tennessee 59–46 |
| April 4, 2007 | Imus and McGuirk make derogatory comments during broadcast |
| April 6, 2007 | Imus issues first on-air apology |
| April 9, 2007 | Imus appears for two hours on Al Sharpton’s radio program; calls fail to satisfy critics |
| April 11, 2007 | Rutgers team holds press conference; MSNBC announces simulcast cancellation |
| April 12, 2007 | CBS Radio cancels Imus in the Morning effective immediately |
| April 12, 2007 | Imus meets privately with Rutgers team and coach C. Vivian Stringer |
| December 3, 2007 | Imus returns to radio on WABC, New York, under new contract |
Advertiser Withdrawal and Economic Impact
The economic dimension of the cancellation was substantial. Within 72 hours of the initial broadcast, major sponsors began withdrawing advertising commitments. Companies that pulled advertising from the show included:
- General Motors — one of the show’s largest sponsors, withdrew all advertising
- Staples — suspended advertising immediately after the April 4 broadcast
- American Express — ceased sponsorship within days of the comments
- Procter & Gamble — pulled advertising from WFAN programming broadly
- Sprint Nextel, PetMed Express, and GlaxoSmithKline — all suspended or cancelled contracts
Total estimated annual revenue lost across the radio and TV platforms was approximately $50 million, according to media industry analysts. The rapidity of advertiser withdrawal — driven in part by coordinated advocacy from Sharpton’s National Action Network and Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition — demonstrated how civil rights organizations could leverage economic pressure to enforce accountability on media companies in ways that direct regulatory action could not.
Aftermath and Return
Imus returned to radio on December 3, 2007, on WABC New York under a five-year contract reportedly worth $40 million. His new program included a Black co-host, veteran radio broadcaster Karith Foster, in what was widely interpreted as an attempt to preemptively address charges of racial insensitivity. The program later moved to Fox Business Network for television distribution.
The Rutgers women’s basketball team — widely praised for their composure and the dignity of their press conference response — received the NCAA’s Sportswoman of the Year award and were invited to the White House. Coach C. Vivian Stringer, already one of the winningest coaches in women’s basketball history with 800+ career victories, became a more prominent national figure following her team’s response to the incident.
Significance
The cancellation of Imus in the Morning was widely cited as a significant case of media accountability for on-air speech. It demonstrated that organized civil rights advocacy combined with corporate economic pressure could enforce rapid consequences for inflammatory racial commentary in mainstream broadcasting, even for a program with a 20-year track record and a politically influential guest list.
The incident foreshadowed broader debates in American media about the boundaries of acceptable speech, the responsibility of networks to manage hosts, and the intersection of free speech principles with social accountability. Media scholars note it as a transitional moment between an era in which shock-jock conventions were largely tolerated and a subsequent period of heightened corporate sensitivity to reputational risk from on-air comments.
The 2007 cancellation is frequently cited alongside the concurrent Britney Spears head-shaving coverage as evidence of the uneven ethical standards applied by 2007 media — vigorous in enforcing consequences for Imus’s racial commentary, yet simultaneously exploitative in its coverage of a woman’s mental health crisis.