Imus reportedly poised to sue CBS Radio Fired radio host seeks to collect $40 million remaining on his contract
MSNBC staff and news service reports
Updated: 1:09 p.m. ET May 2, 2007
Shock jock Don Imus reportedly plans to sue CBS Radio in an effort to collect the $40 million balance left on his contract, according to Fortune.com. Imus was fired by CBS on April 12 after making racially insensitive remarks about the Rutgers University women’s basketball team.
According to Fortune.com, Imus has hired Martin Garbus, a New York-based First Amendment attorney. The report says that Imus’ five-year contract, which was signed in 2006, paid him $10 million per year. A source told Fortune.com that Imus’ lawsuit will be based on language in the contract that encouraged the radio host to be confrontational and irreverent on the air. The source said Imus’ contract stipulates that the host must receive a warning before being fired.
CBS and Imus both declined to be interviewed by Fortune.com.
Imus had a long history of inflammatory remarks. But something struck a raw nerve when he targeted the Rutgers team — which includes a class valedictorian, a future lawyer and a musical prodigy — after they lost in the NCAA championship game.
The cantankerous Imus, once named one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine and a member of the National Broadcasters Hall of Fame, issued repeated apologies as protests intensified. But it wasn’t enough as everyone from Barack Obama to Oprah Winfrey joined the criticism. After initially giving the radio host a two-week suspension, CBS President Les Moonves fired him on April 12.
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