Fire Imus?

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Imus grilled over racial comments

NEW YORK (AP) -- Don Imus had a hot seat on the other side of the microphone Monday, appearing on the Rev. Al Sharpton's radio show and enduring more criticism for his offensive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team.

Imus issued another apology for referring to members of the team as "nappy-headed hos." Sharpton called the comments "abominable" and "racist" and repeated his demand that Imus be fired.

"Our agenda is to be funny and sometimes we go too far. And this time we went way too far," Imus said on "The Al Sharpton Show."

The meeting prompted a series of testy exchanges, and Imus grew visibly frustrated at times. During one exchange, Imus said he can't win with "you people." Sharpton was clearly irritated by that remark.

In another encounter, Sharpton said, "If you walk away from this unscathed ..."

"How am I unscathed by this?" Imus interrupted. "Don't you think I'm humiliated?"

During commercial breaks, Sharpton walked out of the studio and said few words to Imus.

Earlier Monday, on his own radio show, Imus called himself "a good person" who made a bad mistake.

"Here's what I've learned: that you can't make fun of everybody, because some people don't deserve it," he said. "And because the climate on this program has been what it's been for 30 years doesn't mean it's going to be what it's been for the next five years or whatever."

Imus said he was "embarrassed" by the remarks. He said he had made the comments in the course of "trying to be funny," but he was not trying to excuse them.

"I'm not a bad person. I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing. But these young women deserve to know it was not said with malice," he said.

He pointed to his involvement with the Imus Ranch, a cattle farm for children with cancer and blood disorders in Ribera, New Mexico. Ten percent of the children who come to the ranch are black, he added.

"I'm not a white man who doesn't know any African-Americans," he said.

On the radio show, Sharpton said that Imus' good deeds do not make up for what he said about the Rutgers team, which includes eight black women.

"This is not about whether you're a good man," Sharpton said. "What you said was racist."

Imus said he hoped to meet the players and their parents and coaches, and he said he was grateful that he was scheduled to appear on Sharpton's show.

"It's not going to be easy, but I'm not looking for it to be easy," Imus said Monday morning.

Imus made the now infamous remark during his show Wednesday.

The Rutgers team, which includes eight black women, had lost the day before in the NCAA women's championship game. Imus was speaking with producer Bernard McGuirk about the game when the exchange began on "Imus in the Morning," which is broadcast to millions of people on more than 70 stations and MSNBC.

"That's some rough girls from Rutgers," Imus said. "Man, they got tattoos ..."

"Some hardcore hos," McGuirk said.

"That's some nappy-headed hos there, I'm going to tell you that," Imus said.Imus also apologized on the air Friday, but his mea culpa has not quieted the uproar.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson and about 50 people marched Monday outside Chicago's NBC tower to protest Imus' comments, and an NAACP official called for the broadcaster's ouster.

James E. Harris, president of the New Jersey chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, demanded Sunday that Imus "resign or be terminated immediately."

Allison Gollust, a spokeswoman for MSNBC, said the network considers Imus' comments "deplorable" and is reviewing the matter.

Karen Mateo, a spokeswoman for CBS Radio -- Imus' employer and the owner of his New York radio home, WFAN-AM -- said the company was "disappointed" in Imus' actions and characterized his comments as "completely inappropriate."

What he said was totally racist & inappropriate. If a TV talk show host had said that, the network would surely fire them. On the other hand - freedom of speech. Of course, even if they don't fire him, I'm sure many sponsers would flee. What do you guys think?