TOMPAINE.COM IMUS WATCH VI: Imus Priest Condemns Imus Bigotry, May Quit Show!
April 28th Incident
Philip Nobile is the editor of Judgment at the Smithsonian, which
printed the banned Smithsonian script on the 50th anniversary
of the Bombs of August in 1995.
Editor's Note: Click here to see an index to our Imus coverage.
Father Tom Hartman and Rabbi Marc Gellman made a hasty exit from "Imus in the Morning" last Friday (April 28) in the wake of racist comments by Imus producer Bernard McGuirk (transcript below).
"Today was a disappointing moment, the lowest point in our appearances," said Father Hartman, regarding McGuirk's imitation of New Jersey Nets forward, Jayson Williams. "It was the most direct form of bigotry. I don't agree with what he said. It's against what I believe in and what my Church believes in. And I'll do something about it in my own way. I have to think and pray about what happened. If that is characteristic of the entire show, then we couldn't be on the show, but I don't believe it is."
The priest and the rabbi, who go under the showbiz name of the "God Squad," are old friends of the host as well as his frequent guests. Both have lavishly blessed Imus on the air while maintaining strict silence on his recurrent slurs against the least of the brethren. "It's obvious that Imus has recreated himself into something new and more respectable, and he has a whole slew of guests who would bail on him if he went back to racist and sexist jokes," said the rabbi in 1998. After Friday's fiasco, the highground defense no longer seems operative.
During a telephone interview with Father Hartman, I indicated that the bigotry embedded in McGuirk's script was indeed "characteristic of the entire show" and that he could see for himself by reading TomPaine.com's first five Imus Watches. He agreed to read them. But on Monday May 8, Father Tom appeared once again on the show to reflect on the death of Cardinal John J. O'Connor.
PARTICIPANTS
Don Imus [host]
Bernard McGuirk [producer]
Charles McCord [newsman]
Father Tom Hartman [TV priest and half of The God Squad]
MCGUIRK'S JAYSON WILLIAMS IMITATION
Imus: Could we watch our language around the priest and the rabbi, who are here by the way?
McCord: Absolutely.
McGuirk: His [?] mike wasn't supposed to be on. Thank you, Lou.
Fr. Hartman: Hail Mary, full of grace [laughter]...
Imus: Speaking of Jayson Williams who participated with Father Tom and...
Fr. Hartman: The great Jayson Williams and...
Imus: ...Rabbi Marc Gellman at the big foodathon [a charity drive]. Here he is on the phone reporting on the NBA. Good morning, Jayson Williams.
McGuirk [imitating Jayson Williams]: Yo, "Imus in the Morning," man. What's up man? Chillin' Charles McCord, what's up, McCord, yo? Yo, Father Tom, Rabbi. A salaam a lekem, man. What's up with you all, man? [laughter] I don't mind hangin' out with the rabbi, but I don't like hangin' out with Father Tom, 'cause every time I hang out with Father Tom, he gets the bitches and I don't, man. [huzzahs]
Imus: That will be fine.
McGuirk: I'm playin' with you man, I'm playin' with you guys...You see me in the paper this morning?
Imus: No, I didn't.
McGuirk: In the paper with my girlfriend, man...
Imus: I thought you were married.
McGuirk: Yeah, I got a wife, but ain't no thing. I got enough left over for a gang of ho's, man. [laughter] Ain't no thing. That bitch be lucky I don't be slashin' her ass up with a knife. [huzzahs]
Imus: What's the matter with you?
McGuirk: It's a crazy world out there, Imus, I'm gonna tell you right now. A half-black kid like me from the projects makin' millions banging skinny white models, man. No justice, no piece. Imus-man. Thank God for Martin Luther King, man. That's what I'm sayin' man. Let me get to some basketball real quick. Larry Bird and the Pacers done got their ass whupped last night...Reggie Miller played like his sister Cheryl, man. He had only ten points, man. By the way, I think Reggie and his sister, they share the same girlfriend, but I'm cool with that, you know what I'm sayin'?
Imus: We don't need to go there with this, do we?
McGuirk: They're going to be down in Washington, whatever [at the gay rights march].... The [Sacramento] Kings even got a white boy who done stole my name, man. This little punk. I keep breaking bones in my leg else I be kicking a bone out of his ass. [laughter]
Imus: No, no, no.
McGuirk: Yo, yo, yo, they call the dude "White Chocolate," man. How 'bout I slap him upside his head with my black meat, Imus man? You know what I'm sayin' man...Hey, Imus, I was down in Atlanta recently, man.
Imus: Yes.
McGuirk: I happened to catch Steak Shapiro and his boys on the radio down there -- 790 The Zone.
Imus: Yes.
McGuirk: It was bad, man, it was real bad, man. You know what they should call that show, man?
Imus: No.
McGuirk: Call it the Vagina dialogues. [laughter] You know why? Bunch of pussies talkin' bout nothing. [sustained laughter and huzzahs]
Imus: No, no, no, no, no. [sustained laughter] That is just not good.
[Imus went to a commercial break immediately after the parody. When he returned the God Squad had disappeared -- without goodbyes or explanation. Clearly upset by their abrupt departure, Imus closed out the program with a condemnation of McGuirk's imitation, even though he had been laughing it up with his producer just minutes before.]
Imus: The priest and the Rabbi were here. It's ten minutes to the hour on the "Imus in the Morning" program. Jayson Williams was on. I just want to make sure I heard this.
McGuirk [taped reprise]: ...Imus, I was down in Atlanta recently, man.
Imus: Yes.
McGuirk: I happened to catch Steak Shapiro and his boys on the radio down there -- 790 The Zone.
Imus: Yeah.
McGuirk: It was bad, man, it was real bad, man. You know what they should call that show, man?
Imus: No.
McGuirk: Call it the Vagina dialogues. [laughter] You know why? Bunch of pussies talkin' bout nothing. [sustained laughter and huzzahs]
Imus [live, upset voice]: No, no, no, no. We don't need that. It's just unacceptable.
[End of show]
Editor's Note: "Imus in the Morning" is broadcast on the radio by Infinity Broadcasting, a division of CBS, and telecast by MSNBC, a joint venture of NBC and Microsoft.
Published: May 16 2000
