THE SIXTY MINUTES IMUS SHOCKER: Imus Hired a Sidekick to do N-word Jokes
His Lame Excuse: It was Off the Record
Sixty Minutes is a weekly news magazine on CBS.
Editor's Note: The following excerpt was taken from a "Sixty Minutes" broadcast with Don Imus on July 19, 1998. Click here to see an index to our Imus coverage.
PARTICIPANTS
Mike Wallace ["Sixty Minutes" co-host]
Don Imus [radio host]
Charles McCord ["Imus in the Morning" newsman]
Bernard McGuirk ["Imus in the Morning" producer]
Tom Addison ["Sixty Minutes" producer]
Wallace [voiceover]: Charles McCord and Bernard McGuirk are Imus' two major sidekicks. McCord, who's a born-again Christian, reads the news on the show and he writes some of the best satiric material. He also plays the role of straight man and father figure to Imus.
McCord: There is no issue that - that -- that he will not take on. There's no ethnic group that is immune, nor -- nor should there be, including himself.
Wallace: You are a moderating influence. When he really begins to take out after somebody, you try to cool him down.
McCord: Sure. I don't want Don Imus to come off sounding mean on the air.
Wallace: Mm-hmm.
McCord: That disturbs me. And once in a while it does transgress into that area. [Footage of McGuirk]
Wallace [voiceover]: Bernard McGuirk is the producer of the show. He glories in the role of resident bigot. Bernie jokes about Ebola virus, Africans eating monkeys...
McGuirk: Now wait a second.
Wallace: ... jokes about Michael Jackson...
McGuirk: Oh, come on! Michael Jackson is -- is a pervert pedophile. If you can't joke about Michael Jackson, I mean, who can you joke about? Is -- what is he? Mother Teresa?
Wallace: It's satiric. It's funny.
Imus: Yeah.
Wallace: It's sophomoric and adolescent. It is smart as the dickens. It's on top of politics. It's dirty and sometimes racist.
Imus: Give me an example -- give me one example of one racist incident.
Wallace: You told Tom Addison, the producer, in your car, coming home, that Bernard McGuirk is there to do nigger jokes.
Imus: Well, I've nev -- I never use that word.
Wallace: Tom.
Addison: I'm right here.
Imus: Did I use that word?
Addison: I recall you using that word.
Imus: Oh, OK. Well, then I used that word. But I mean -- of course that was an off-the-record conversation. But...
Wallace: The hell it was.
Imus: But that's not true. There's never been a suggestion on my radio program that there is some inherent characteristic or ability of one race that makes them superior to another.
Wallace: You are not -- or I should say you're an equal opportunity bigot.
Imus: Well, I mean, are black people or Hispanics or any of these other people -- have they been inoculated and are they immune out of satire? I don't think so. I mean, I don't apologize for -- for offending people, you know? And I know it's not politically -- not politically correct and I don't care.
Published: May 16 2000
