Imus "Pacman" Jones Comment Update: Imus Says He Was "Sarcastic," Jones "Upset," "Will Pray For" Imus

The AP's Cristian Salazar reports that Don Imus addressed Monday's controversial comments on Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones on his radio show Tuesday morning:

Don Imus said Tuesday morning on his radio show that he was trying to "make a sarcastic point" with his latest on-air remarks about race, but that they had been misunderstood.

Imus resurrected his radio career six months ago with a pledge to mend the wounds caused by a racist and sexist comment he made about a women's basketball team.

On Tuesday he said he was following the spirit of that promise by calling attention to the unfair treatment of blacks _ in this case the arrests of suspended Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones.

"What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason," Imus said Tuesday. "I mean, there's no reason to arrest this kid six times. Maybe he did something once, but everyone does something once."

He called the flurry of criticism surrounding the comments "ridiculous" and said that his program's cast is now more diverse than ever _ and includes a black producer and two black co-hosts, a man and a woman.

"How insane would I have to be? What would I be thinking?" Imus wondered aloud.

On his radio show Monday morning, Imus asked "What color is he?" after being told about Jones, who was suspended from the NFL in 2007 and has been arrested six times (listen here).

Jones, in an interview with the Dally Morning News, said he was "upset" by Imus' comments and that he would pray for the controversial radio host:

Jones was unaware of the comments until a reporter played him a tape Monday night.

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"I'm truly upset about the comments," Jones said. "Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans. I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."

Late Monday, a station representative said it was unlikely Imus would face any disciplinary action for the comments:

WABC and Citadel Broadcasting Corp. Vice President Phil Boyce said Imus would explain his comments on his Tuesday morning show and said it was unlikely the broadcasters would take disciplinary action.

Boyce said Imus had explained himself in a private conversation Monday afternoon and the explanation was satisfactory.

"I think some people may be misunderstanding what he meant," Boyce said.

Comments

[MoeSart]

Looks like the witch hunt failed this time.

Too bad for you pc types. You're slipping.

[reggieb]

I watched Imus sporadically in the past. I liked the book reviews and the guests who were musicians. He interviewed them well. I bought several CD's that I wouldn't have because of live performances on his show and read some books that I otherwise wouldn't have. But in between there was a lot of B.S. to suffer through so weeks would go by and I wouldn't watch.

[TheKat]

Attention advertisers: we will be eternally grateful when you pull the purse strings.
kitty
www.corp-edge.com

[mamacat]

I have tried to listen to him a few times, but he was so boring and irrelevent, I was going crazy trying to pay attention. So, honestly, the only time I care what he says is when I have to read about him somewhere. The rest of the time, I am very happy to ignore him.

[rachel88]

I love how he constantly emphasizes that he has three black people working for him including one woman!
Wow, what do you want a cookie?
As if that disqualified him from being racist.

[wendy01]

don imus is a racist people....­face it,deal with it and get past it.....bel­ieve it or not there are some people out there who just dont like african americans.­......peop­le like buchanon,l­imbaugh,ha­nnity,dobb­s ect,ect...­..his ignorant attitude will not stop me from living my life the way i want and it shouldnt stop anyone else......­.with that being said,pacman jones is a loser so "f" him anyway....

[mellene]

I'm sure he was being sarcastic. Just get over this issue and talk about something that really is affecting the people of America and that's the criminality of the government officials from Bush through Congress.

[chosenson]

I'm Black. And I don't care what Imus said. He's not important. Period.

[JackWOrf]

MSNBC has some interesting values. Last night I was watching an interview with mass murderer Charlie Manson on MSNBC. Here is a guy who has DEMONSTRATED that he has hypnotic powers to get weaker minds to go along with his murder sprees. And didn't some idiot go into a school yesterday and murder a bunch of people?

I mention this by way of comparison to Imus. Imus makes one off-color joke about "nappy headed holes (or whores, who knows?)" and he gets fired because this is apparently going to corrupt everyone's brains.

But then they let a convicted mass-murderer, with demonstrated hypnotic powers, talk all he wants. That's just dandy.

Somebody at MSNBC needs to get their head screwed on right. Manson should have gotten the death penalty LONG ago. Animals like him should not be allowed to spread their poison in the general population.

[hilaritee]

dear pacman

do you see what kind of company you keep when you act like a damn fool in public?

now stop it.

thank you.

[booker52]

Imus you are as big an idiot as the football player you are talking about, you for the comment you made, him for the stupid stuff he get caught doing.

[ZedLoch]

Who the hell is Don Imus? Why does anyone care?

[Faye12]

Leave Imus alone. I am so sick of everybody yelling racist racist racist. We have been set back
50 years.

[ZimboChick]

We wont and we cant

[Darthwave]

When Pacman Jones has to prey for you. You might as well go hide under a rock. I knew it wouldn't take long for the old I-man to start his bigotry.

[firewmn]

..........­.... PRAY... not .. Prey......­..

[GQTaste]

You guys are worried about all the wrong things. Who gives a crap about this? No black people listen to him anyway.

[larmarch5]

I-who?

[Grulg]

Imus was just guilty of saying what he meant badly. It was about racial profiling, nothing more. Get a grip.

[gaebolgaes]

i agree...ev­eryone knows that as soon as a young black athelete starts getting pro ball checks...w­hite racist cops follow them night and day. the only way to stop racial profiling is to mandate oneway auto glass. if they can't see a black man..they wount stop a black man.blacks are stooped for one reason and one reason only...bei­ng black.

[skeller]

But if Imus didn't know enough about the guy to know he was black, how does Imus know the guy was the victim of racial profiling? I doubt that Imus believes that black men never commit crimes. Not Imus.

[hopefull2008]

It seems to me that there are two types of comments on this issue. One from those who listen to the show and the other who react to a sound bite.