• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, August 15, 2007

Infamous radio provocateur Don Imus has settled with former employer CBS Radio for $20 million, Reuters reported Tuesday, as rumors circulated on the Internet about a possible return to the airwaves. CBS also announced that former NFL quarterback and CBS Sports broadcaster Boomer Esiason will replace the legendary shock jock at WFAN, along with co-host Craig Carton.

CBS fired Imus in April after he called the Rutgers' women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" during his show, alleging that he had broken his contract by using "distasteful or offensive words or phrases, the broadcast of which... would not be in the public interest." The racist banter triggered a deluge of criticism from African-American leaders, driving major advertisers to drop the show.

Imus fought back. He retained well-known attorney Martin Garbus, and threatened to sue CBS for $120 million in May for breach of contract, as well as wrongful termination. According to a draft of the complaint, Imus was prepared to argue that the show was on a five-second delay that allowed CBS to block any content it found offensive. By allowing the broadcast to go forward, the complaint adds, the net implicitly approved the content for air and thus took responsibility for its consequences.

Imus also noted that according to the terms of his contract with CBS, he was employed to provide "irreverent" and "controversial" content. Further, his statements were not actionable by the Federal Communications Commission; they didn't endanger the CBS broadcast license.

Also on Tuesday, the Drudge Report reported a rumor that Imus may soon find a new home at New York's WABC, one of WFAN's main rivals in the New York metro radio market. If the report is accurate, WABC's interest in Imus indicates that both fear of controversy and notions of social propriety still take a back seat to ratings in the radio game.

Indeed, while a frequent subject of controversy, Imus was always a favorite with advertisers eager to reach an audience of mostly white men ages 18-54 during prime commuter drive periods. Advertisers stood by Imus through a number of previous controversies, including on-air racist and anti-Semitic remarks. In November 2006, for example, 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." 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 that 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."