Radioactive
don imus is back. he's brought reinforcements.
2007-12-07
By Terry Glover

Don Imus has a new sidekick. Two, to be exact. Both of them are Black. To be exact.

This development comes eight months after his fateful “nappy-headed hos” remark got him yanked off the air; eight months after Imus sued his former employer, CBS for breach of contract; and three months after he landed a new radio gig in New York.

In the interest of avoiding another train wreck, you’d think Imus would err on the side of common sense and keep his mouth shut. What he decided to do instead was go out and rustle up a couple of knee-grows to vet his ethnically offensive schtick. The thing is, no one is willing to own up to the fact that that’s exactly why Karith Foster and Tony Powell are sitting in the Kevin Eubanks chair. Least of all Imus.

“Anybody who’s on this program is on because they are either funny or smart,” he said before his first show on Monday. Come on! What about the fact that they are Black?

Foster and Powell were on hand at the auction block… er, the podium with Imus, happy to pretend their new gigs sprung out of a colorblind search for fresh talent.

“Imus wanted to improve the quality of his show,” Powell told reporters. “So he went out and got talented individuals to help him improve the quality of the show.”

OK, so that remains to be seen, and the benefit of the doubt goes to the guy who’s been on both Showtime at the Apollo and a Doritos commercial. Ditto for Foster whose resume includes a stint on the production team over at The View. And, let’s not overlook her website (karith.com) where she describes herself as a “Long Island Jewish girl trapped in this body.” Hilarious.

The thing is, both Foster and Powell know why they’re there, but they are determined to be seen as more than the affirmative action hires. Do they really believe that they can make a difference? At the very least, what they can do is make a name for themselves. And therein lies the tradeoff. Because there are times when you have to recognize the affirmative action hire for what it is, suck it up, bring your “A” game and play until the clock runs out. Will they play with integrity and hold Imus accountable or will they step 'n fetch and ultimately need to hit the showers?

As for Imus, he rebounded like we knew he would: he’s back on the air with his producer and “ho” instigator, Bernard McGuirk; he’s created a tolerance buffer in the event that his “shock jock” humor veer into unsavory stereotypes, though he's vowed to have an "ongoing dialogue about race," and he’s lawyered up enough to secure himself a lucrative contract. An 80-year-old fan who paid $100 to sit in the audience of his inaugural show on Monday said, “I’m thrilled he’s back…I think he’s learned a valuable lesson.”

Yeah, I’d say there’s a whole lot of value in a $40 million payday.

Terry Glover is Senior Editor at Ebonyjet.com. She writes about trends and popular culture.