Imus' Adam "Pacman" Jones Comment: Asks Of Suspended, Crime-Ridden Athlete, "What Color Is He?"

Update with Imus response below

A little over a year after being fired for making what were perceived as racist and sexist comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team, Don Imus is courting controversy again over a potentially racist remark made about an athlete.

When sports host Warner Wolf explained that Adam "Pacman" Jones — who was suspended in 2007 following a Last Vegas nightclub shooting incident — had been arrested six times, Imus asked, "What color is he?"

A slightly confused Wolf responded, "He's African American."

Imus then said, "Well, there you go. Now we know."

Listen (via Politico):

Imus returned to the airwaves in December after eight months off the air.

Story continues below

advertisement

Update: Imus has defended his comments in an email exchange with the New York Times' Jacques Steinberg:

Asked in an e-mail message what he was trying to convey, Mr. Imus wrote: "I meant he was being picked on because he's black.'' He added that Dick Gregory, a veteran comedian and activist who is black, would be a guest on his show on Tuesday, to discuss the death of George Carlin. "We'll see what he thinks,'' Mr. Imus wrote. "I mean...come on!''

Full transcript, via AOL sports, below:

Wolf: "Defensive back Adam 'Pacman' Jones, recently signed by the Cowboys. Here's a guy suspended all of 2007 following a shooting in a Vegas night club."

Imus: "Well, stuff happens. You're in a night club, for God's sake. What do you think's gonna happen in a night club? People are drinking and doing drugs, there are women there, and people have guns. So, there, go ahead."

Wolf: "He's also been arrested six times since being drafted by Tennessee in 2005."

Imus: "What color is he?"

Wolf: "He's African-American."

Imus: "Well, there you go. Now we know."

Comments

[brod5019]

Here we go again...

I love watching MSM try to disect the Imus comments. It's just sad...

Honestly, I like Imus but I can't believe he'd even put himself in this position again where he has to explain his actions.

Great, now I have to listen to Al Sharpton for a week.

[Vorticose]

BROD in this PC world he could have said, "Now he plays football right?" and that would be a racist comment.

[nellie]

He's old. He's bought into all the propaganda of the 1950s.

[outsurgency]

Not unlike Rush 'Limburger', Don Imus is an unabashed conservative, racist commentator. What color is Don then? White of course. 'Well, now you know'. That explains everything in the logic of these guys at least. Just as all blacks are known and established criminals and junkies, all whites must therefore be known and established racist and perhaps even junkies too; kind of like Rush on duplicate scripts. That is if their Americans of course. Especially if their Americans from Hollywood. Afterall, lets qualify profession, nationality and ethnic background in these stereo types too. Makes sense does'nt it? At least it does to prejudice, racist bigots like Rush and Don.

[mimsnpips]

Imus, Imus wilt thou ever learn?

[BEHM777]

Don Imus. Who is really surprised?

[lordraiden]

I'm not a fan of Imus. As a black guy, I do find him to be racist from time to time. But this isn't one of those times. He was sympathetic to the guy getting into it at a club. I don't know if he knew if Pacman was black or not, but he seemed to be saying exactly what he clarified later: The only reason it was this big of a deal was because he was black. I disagree with that however, Pacman was being a dumbass repeatedly. That's why he caught hell.

[zakwouldhave]

Don Imus is an ugly American. Black athletes are notorious for getting in trouble and think they are entitled to "respect" because they are athletes. White football players like Romanowski and Janakowski aren't model citizens either but the brothers need to step up and be better fathers and citizens. I work at a school and black history month is celebrated­...rightly so...but the role models are athletes and entertainers. Should be Tubman, WWII black pilots and MLK and stories of the front of the bus. Obama can change that, hopefully. And Sharpton and Imus can just fade away......­.......

[onedivasinger]

This man has years of damage to his brain and his body from drugs and alcohol. When you spend that much time trying to fight your inner devils, then I think your problems are much deeper than you even realize. He is a deeply sick and insecure man that can not help himself. The person I feel truly sorry for is his young son. Bigotry is a disease that is passed down through generations. Imus and the people closest to him have done a good job of keeping that disease alive. He is just sad at this point. Look at him. Just sad...

[starfire426]

Imus, Imus, Imus...tha­t foot of yours must be mighty tasty...yo­u just can't seem to keep it out of your mouth!

[blurredtruth]

Pacman Jones reputation proceeds him. He'll be in trouble by game 7 during the season.

[ropadopa]

Wow! You write very well. I must give that to you since it tells me that you are an otherwise educated person. So that said, did you not notice that nothing in the item was in defense of Pacman? The issue here is the insinuation by Imus that his conduct was in keeping with him being black and so his action is expected of him. Hello! That is the offensive, insulting aspect to it and if your rush to comment prevented you from identifying that just slow down and read the item again. Every time I hear a horrendous story about some person bombing a federal building and killing hundreds of innocent kids ala McVeigh, I don't rush to think the person must be white. Or, when I hear about a person killing people and eating their flesh and keeping their body parts in their refrigerator ala Dahmer, I don't rush to think it was a white person. Calm down!

[linaya]

Maybe people should stop assuming "racism" every time someone says the word color. There are legitimate contexts to use it in. It's also a legitimate demographic.

Aren't we getting tired of the attack culture yet?

[stepintothelight]

Repeat your educated perspective to one of you AA friends. I know that some of your best friends are "black". That should straighten things out for you.

[nellie]

Sounds like an apologist line from the 20th Century.

[gnostic19]

who cares what this mastadon thinks.

[vocalist]

Not a sports fan from Nashville, Packman was in the news all the time, arrested all over the place and Titans eventually got rid of Him. What is so big deal about him.

Anyting else going on besides what Don said or not, in the sceme of , housing crisis and foreclosure, flood in Iowa, gas prices, what McCain said or not. ?

How about Dowd and her obnoxous columns ?

[Mort]

Is it true that guys who wear enormous hats are trying to compensate for painfully small... oh nevermind.

[ebethgay]

Pacman doesn't get picked on because he's black. He gets picked on because he's an ignorant thug who blew many, many chances with the Titans. The Tennessean recently reported that he just let his $1.5 million house go into foreclosure because he didn't want to pay the bank note anymore. I don't care what Imus says, Pacman's actions have been far more offensive. Just ask the guy who's never going to walk again because of the Las Vegas nightclub shooting and his co-defendant who died last week from a "fall." Why not get offended about that?