Name: Don Imus
Age: dead
Occupation: former Stern clone
Last Seen: around a lot of fire
Bee-otched For: being a shitty radio personality
Age: dead
Occupation: former Stern clone
Last Seen: around a lot of fire
Bee-otched For: being a shitty radio personality
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It's officially true: Imus is dead.
The angry old racist prick died just before the new year from lung disease at 79. He was known for being a crass shock jock; some say he was an influence on Howard Stern. Stern, however, said that it was the other way around for years.
Now, it's true that Howard has toned down somewhat in terms of his notorious battles. He's made up with the likes of Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen Degeneres and even Kathie Lee Gifford. But on Monday's show, Stern pulled no punches in regards to Imus. He talked about how lame his show was before he came to WNBC in 1983 and the racist shit he was pulling long before the infamous "nappy headed ho" incident that got him fired from CBS in 2007. According to Howard, he personally called an NBC secretary the N-word and she was very upset about it. Howard claimed that because Imus was heavy on drugs and alcohol at the time, he got a free pass. Plus, it was the 1980s, so things were way different back then.
According to Howard, Imus often sat in on his show and even attended show meetings. Soon, Imus was ripping off Stern's bits, which pissed him off. When Howard's E! show took off in the 1990s, Imus copied him by simulcasting his show on MSNBC. After the "nappy headed ho" incident, even that network canned him. He eventually ended up on Cumulus' WABC New York and the RFD-TV network on cable and satellite, a channel known for airing cow auctions, farm reports and old episodes of Pop! Goes the Country. Eventually, Imus ended up on Fox Business Network, because Heaven forbid that the main Fox News Channel give up their beloved Fox and Friends for Old Man Imus' dreck.
The sad thing was that the media did talk some good things about Imus, especially his cancer ranch. I roll back my eyes thinking about it, since I think Imus wanted a ranch, got one and couldn't afford the upkeep. So, he used cancer-stricken kids to live the dream of being a cowboy, though it's probably hard work for those weakened by the disease. Personally, I would donate to St. Jude's since all of their patients never see a bill.
What's funny is how radio critics bashed Stern and defended Imus. Hell, I remembered when he re-signed his contract with Cumulus, they claimed that he had affiliates in all 50 states. Funny thing was that the only affiliate he had in Michigan at the time was a tiny, unprofitable station in a rural part of the state owned by a person that left a giant hole in a major town in the state. In Detroit, he was carried first on the old WYST Star 97 in the mid-90s before it flipped to K-Rock and carried Howard Stern. He then moved to WXYT 1270, but when they flipped to Sports, he then moved to low-rent WPON 1460, a station that carried brokered programming.
You know, when Howard was on terrestrial radio, he would NEVER accept being on a peashooter, let alone a station owned by slumlords. I know that his Houston affiliate was a daytime-only AM, but that's all CBS could do there. Since Imus' ratings were shitty and his listeners were all old farts, well, there you go.
Tell you the truth, I think Imus was LUCKY to see 79 with all the drugs he took over the years. Fuck, at one point, he missed 100 days of work because of his habit in the 1970s. He ended up losing his WNBC gig and moving to Cleveland as a result. He only came back to New York because he sobered up for the moment.
But now, Imus is dead and the world's a better place. Oh, well. Then again, his fans are dying off, too.
Hopefully, if Heaven presents him with 40 virgins, they'll all have afros.
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Bee-otch of the Day Archives can be seen on http://beeotchoftheday.blogspot.com
Bee-otch of the Day is a production of Chuck69.com, Grand Rapids' site for Stern, politics and more!
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