• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, April 12, 2007

Effective immediately, MSNBC will no longer simulcast the "Imus in the Morning" radio program, per a statement NBC issued Wednesday evening. Earlier in the day, Bruce S. Gordon, a member of the CBS Corporation's board of directors, called for Don Imus to be fired from CBS Radio. At press time, a CBS spokesman did not respond to NBC's decision or Gordon's comments.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Gordon, a member of the CBS corporate board and until March 19 the head of the NAACP, contacted CBS chief executive Leslie Moonves, hopeful that he would "make the smart decision" and cancel the "Imus in the Morning" show at the end of the DJ's two-week hiatus, which begins April 16. "At the end of the day, the image of CBS is at risk," Gordon said. His demand followed the shock jock's crude, racist remarks about the Rutgers' women's basketball team during an April 4 broadcast.

In addition, a number of major advertisers announced their intention to pull out of the show by Wednesday afternoon--a textbook case of sponsors fleeing a PR meltdown to protect their brands. On late Tuesday, Staples Inc. said it would stop advertising on the program, joined by Bigelow Teas, Procter & Gamble, GM and American Express on Wednesday. Sprint is suspending its advertising during the MSNBC telecast of the show. Some companies are maintaining a presence on MSNBC, but asking that their ads play during other programs.

Industry observers say Imus' viability depends on his ability to retain advertisers and continue to attract interesting high-profile guests--another area where he is hemorrhaging support. In the immediate aftermath of his controversial remarks, baseball star Cal Ripken, Jr. canceled a scheduled appearance, explaining to The Washington Post,"I said no because I don't want anybody to perceive that I condone those comments, because I don't."

Similarly, on Wednesday, Illinois senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama, previously a guest on the show, called for Imus to be fired during an interview with ABC News. "There's nobody on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that," said Obama, vowing never to return to the show himself.

Together, these developments seem to bode ill for the eventual return of Imus to the airwaves, though the final outcome won't be known for some weeks. Dimming his prospects, a parade of public personalities and activists have come forward over the last week, pointing to past transgressions that went mostly unpunished. These documented instances of racist and misogynist banter on the show undermine Imus' claims that the recent remarks, while objectionable, are a relative anomaly.

Imus is also coming under renewed fire from the Anti-Defamation League, which called Imus' two-week suspension "a long time coming." The organization has filed dozens of complaints about his on-air comments over the years. Said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL national director, "He's gotten away with insensitive and stereotypical remarks about blacks, Jews, women, homosexuals and others far too often."

Most recently, in November 2006, Imus lambasted the "Jewish management at whoever we work for, CBS," referring to them as "money-grubbing bastards." Two years earlier, Imus referred to publishers of a new book called "The Christmas Thief" as "thieving Jews." The ADL wrote twice in response, but received no comment from either Imus or his "Imus in the Morning" team.

In a 1997 interview, Imus admitted to Mike Wallace that he had hired a producer to "do nigger jokes." Four years earlier, Imus referred to Gwen Ifill, then a Washington correspondent for The New York Times, now host of PBS' "Washington Week," as a "cleaning lady," a racist insult which Ifill recalled in an op-ed piece in the Times. Imus also called William C. Rhoden, a respected sportswriter for the newspaper, a "quota hire."