West Palm Beach, FL (AHN) - Don Imus is used to being a polarizing figure for his listeners, but he took it to another level during his Thursday morning show.
The opinionated talk show host used some insensitive and harsh language during the broadcast of his Imus in the Morning show on WFAN radio show, which is also simulcast on MSNBC, when describing the Rutgers women's basketball team.
In reference to Rutgers, which finished runner-up to Tennessee in the NCAA Women's basketball tournament, Imus used both racist and sexist language to describe the team that is primarily composed of African-American women.
When discussing Tuesday's championship game, the talk turned to the tattoos that many of the players had. A person identified as "Imus in the Morning" executive producer Bernard McGuirk exclaimed off-camera "those 'are some hard core hos."
In response, rather than chastising McGuirk for the remark, Imus agreed, saying, "That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know."
Here's the full transcript of the offensive exchange, courtesy of Media Matters:
DON IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.
SID ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --
BERNARD McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.
IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --
CHARLES McCORD: Do The Right Thing.
McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
IMUS: I don't know if I'd have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?
ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
MSNBC issued a statement regarding Imus saying, "While simulcast by MSNBC, 'Imus in the Morning' is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio. As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC. We regret that his remarks were aired on MSNBC and apologize for these offensive comments."
Rutgers surprisingly advanced to the championship game after knocking off No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Arizona State in the Elite Eight and No. 3 LSU in the Final Four before succumbing to Tennessee in the championship, 59-46.
Imus issued a statement on Friday to apologize for his remarks.
"I want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regading the Rutger's women's basketball team, which lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship game on Tuesday," the statement read. "It was completely inappropriate and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."
The opinionated talk show host used some insensitive and harsh language during the broadcast of his Imus in the Morning show on WFAN radio show, which is also simulcast on MSNBC, when describing the Rutgers women's basketball team.
In reference to Rutgers, which finished runner-up to Tennessee in the NCAA Women's basketball tournament, Imus used both racist and sexist language to describe the team that is primarily composed of African-American women.
When discussing Tuesday's championship game, the talk turned to the tattoos that many of the players had. A person identified as "Imus in the Morning" executive producer Bernard McGuirk exclaimed off-camera "those 'are some hard core hos."
In response, rather than chastising McGuirk for the remark, Imus agreed, saying, "That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know."
Here's the full transcript of the offensive exchange, courtesy of Media Matters:
DON IMUS: So, I watched the basketball game last night between -- a little bit of Rutgers and Tennessee, the women's final.
SID ROSENBERG: Yeah, Tennessee won last night -- seventh championship for [Tennessee coach] Pat Summitt, I-Man. They beat Rutgers by 13 points.
IMUS: That's some rough girls from Rutgers. Man, they got tattoos and --
BERNARD McGUIRK: Some hard-core hos.
IMUS: That's some nappy-headed hos there. I'm gonna tell you that now, man, that's some -- woo. And the girls from Tennessee, they all look cute, you know, so, like -- kinda like -- I don't know.
McGUIRK: A Spike Lee thing.
IMUS: Yeah.
McGUIRK: The Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes -- that movie that he had.
IMUS: Yeah, it was a tough --
CHARLES McCORD: Do The Right Thing.
McGUIRK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
IMUS: I don't know if I'd have wanted to beat Rutgers or not, but they did, right?
ROSENBERG: It was a tough watch. The more I look at Rutgers, they look exactly like the Toronto Raptors.
MSNBC issued a statement regarding Imus saying, "While simulcast by MSNBC, 'Imus in the Morning' is not a production of the cable network and is produced by WFAN Radio. As Imus makes clear every day, his views are not those of MSNBC. We regret that his remarks were aired on MSNBC and apologize for these offensive comments."
Rutgers surprisingly advanced to the championship game after knocking off No. 1 Duke in the Sweet 16, No. 3 Arizona State in the Elite Eight and No. 3 LSU in the Final Four before succumbing to Tennessee in the championship, 59-46.
Imus issued a statement on Friday to apologize for his remarks.
"I want to take a moment to apologize for an insensitive and ill-conceived remark we made the other morning regading the Rutger's women's basketball team, which lost to Tennessee in the NCAA championship game on Tuesday," the statement read. "It was completely inappropriate and we can understand why people were offended. Our characterization was thoughtless and stupid, and we are sorry."
