Imus vow: "[A]t some point, I stop playing"

On the April 10 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning, host Don Imus, discussing the decision by MSNBC and CBS Radio to suspend the broadcast of his program for two weeks beginning April 16 in light of the controversy surrounding comments he made about the Rutgers University women's basketball team, said that "there's a lot of stuff that we can do, but at some point, I stop playing." Imus added that he doesn't "deserve to be fired" but that he "should be punished." He ended the segment by saying, "I'm not whining, because I don't feel as bad as those kids feel, and I've said that several times. But, I'm not going to play forever."

Media Matters for America noted Imus' April 4 comments -- in which he called the Rutgers women's basketball team "nappy-headed hos" -- at the time, as well as his subsequent apology two days later. However, as Media Matters noted at the time of Imus' apology, his remarks about the Rutgers team are just the latest in a long history of racial slurs -- not merely generic remarks, but smears of particular individuals -- by him, his guests, and regular contributors on the show.

From the April 10 edition of MSNBC's Imus in the Morning:

IMUS: And I'm going to go talk with the women at Rutgers if I can. And then I'm going to serve my suspension, and then I will come back and we will make this a better program, and we will make me a better person so that while I say I'm a good person, I did say that -- and it's irrelevant whether or not I was trying to be funny. I mean, where did I think that was all right to make fun of --? So, and there's a lot of stuff that we can do, but at some point, I stop playing. So I don't deserve to be fired. And I am not going to be fired without consequences. So, I should be punished and I'm being punished and not insignificantly, by the way. I'm not whining, because I don't feel as bad as those kids feel, and I've said that several times. But, I'm not going to play forever.

—R.D.