Apr 11, 2007 11:59 pm US/Eastern
Rally Against Imus, CBS Set For Thursday
Rev. Al Sharpton Wants Eye To Follow Peacock's Lead
by Brendan Keefe
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Don Imus is no longer welcome in the studio where he offered his apology.
Now, all eyes are on the biggest eye of them all, CBS.
One day after MSNBC broke the news that it will no longer simulcast the legendary radio host's show, the Rev. Al Sharpton will lead a rally in front of CBS' corporate headquarters on West 52nd Street and Avenue of the Americas in Midtown at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Imus came under fire last week when on his show he referred to members of the Rutgers University women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." The comment snowballed from there, eventually drawing the ire of Civil Rights leaders and presidential candidates.
Imus went on Sharpton's radio show on Monday to apologize, and did so profusely while the Reverend demanded he be fired.
"Because of who I am and what I am everyone had a right to expect better of me," Imus said.
The Rutgers women's team held a press conference on Tuesday where members of the faculty, head coach C. Vivian Stringer and the players sounded off on the radio host.
MSNBC and CBS each initially decided to suspend Imus for two weeks.
But that changed Wednesday when MSNBC severed ties with Imus. Sharpton was overjoyed by the decision and is looking for CBS to fire Imus as well. Imus' morning show is carried on WFAN radio, which is owned by CBS.
"When you look at the symbols of both stations, tonight the peacock spread its wings correctly," Sharpton said. "I want to know what the eye in the middle of the CBS emblem is looking at. We'll see tomorrow."
Reverends Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stood together Wednesday night, claiming victory in the campaign to pressure major advertisers to drop their sponsorship of Imus' MSNBC show.
"I think the coach of the team said it best: It went from black and white to green," Sharpton said. "I think people had to look at the bottom line. And it took the profit out of bigotry and bias."
Added Jackson: "It was politics masked in comedy."
Imus was in hotel room on Central Park South when a top NBC executive personally delivered the news. Also present in the room was the Rev. DeForest Soaries Jr., who is trying to arrange the in-person apology from Imus to the Rutgers women."
"The news broke literally as I walked in the room," Soaries said.
Soaries said Imus was "reflective and calm" when he heard about the MSNBC cancellation.
"Imus knows he brought this on himself," Soaries said.
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