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Don Imus may have reached a settlement with former employer CBS Radio, but he still has things to worry about, such as a lawsuit filed against him by a member of the Rutgers University women’s basketball team that he inadvertently insulted earlier this year.
The team did say his remarks deeply offended and hurt them. This was back in April, when the Rutgers University women’s basketball team agreed to meet with radio talk show host Don Imus and hear his explanations and apologies for the unfortunate remarks he had made on his show about them.
His mixed misogynistic/racial slur while on the air prompted a public outcry that would not quell unless serious measures were taken. The result was that Don Imus, one of the original promoters of the shock-jock radio genre, was fired.
The women whom he called “nappy-headed hos” said his remark “scarred” them. He apologized repeatedly and insisted that he was not a racist. Among the things that he said at the time was: “I'm not a bad person; I'm a good person, but I said a bad thing. But these young women deserve to know it was not said with malice.”
When the two parties met, the team accepted Imus’s apologies.
Four months later, Kia Vaughn, star center for the Rutgers Women's Basketball team, has filed a lawsuit against Imus for libel, slander and defamation, according to ABC News. Vaughn is seeking damages.
Attorney Richard Ancowitz stated in an exclusive interview with the ABC News Law & Justice Unit: “This is a lawsuit in order to restore the good name and reputation of my client, Kia Vaughn. Don Imus referred to my client as an unchaste woman. That was and is a lie.”
Earlier this week Imus and CBS Radio announced in a joint statement that they had reached a settlement over the radio talk show host’s dismissal from the network before their contract expired and the lawsuit he subsequently threatened with.
The statement from CBS Radio and Imus’s attorney, Martin Garbus, said: “Don Imus and CBS Radio have mutually agreed to settle claims that each had against the other regarding the Imus radio program on CBS,” it said. “The terms of the settlement are confidential and will not be disclosed.”
Soon after being fired, Imus announced he would sue his former employer for breach of contract, as a large portion of the 5-year, 40 million dollar contract signed was still due him.
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