G
Greg Brown
Guest
http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/01/news/newsmakers/pluggedin_arango_imus.fortune/index.htm?
Imus won't go quietly
The talk show host has hired a top First Amendment lawyer, and an
unusual clause in his contract could give him a $40 million payday,
writes Fortune's Tim Arango.
By Tim Arango
May 2 2007: 12:48 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host
whose racial remarks engendered a media storm that triggered a swift
upending of his career, is not going away quietly even if the
imbroglio has all but disappeared from the national conversation in
the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.
For Imus, who made a career out of operating in the murky space
between sophomoric humor and high-brow political talk, there is the
little matter of about $40 million left on his contract with CBS Radio
- whose boss Les Moonves fired the shock jock on April 12. CBS'
lawyers contend Imus was fired for cause and not owed the rest of the
money.
But Imus has hired one of the nation's premiere First Amendment
attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that
could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio
host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted,
according to one person who has read the contract.
The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year
contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10
million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before
being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color
jokes. The source described it as a "dog has one- bite clause." A
lawsuit could be filed within a month, this person predicted.
A CBS spokesman declined comment, and Imus, through his attorney, also
declined an interview.
Bo Dietl, a private investigator and author who is a long-time Imus
confidante and was a regular guest on the show, has been making the
rounds of the cable talk shows defending his friend and had this to
say to Fortune: "I just heard that there is a contract in place, and
that he can't be fired without a warning."
Imus has hired Martin Garbus, a New York-based attorney at the law
firm Davis & Gilbert who is widely recognized as one of the country's
most able First Amendment lawyers. Time Magazine, for one, has called
him "legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country." He's
successfully represented the comedian Lenny Bruce against criminal
charges on First Amendment grounds, and the writer Robert Sam Anson in
a lawsuit filed by Walt Disney trying to halt the publication of a
book critical of the media giant.
But in Imus' case, his free speech rights are tempered by the fact
that he said what he said on the public airwaves - which are subject
to Federal Communications Commission regulations about what is
appropriate content.
"[Garbus is] a First Amendment lawyer who's argued many important
cases," said Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lynne Bernabei, who has
often represented plaintiffs in employment disputes. "I'm sure they're
trying to make this a First Amendment case. But the airwaves are
heavily regulated by the FCC.
"In my mind there is a big difference between someone who is under
contract and is under FCC regulations and someone who speaks out in
town hall. This is someone in a heavily regulated industry and who
used the public airwaves."
Bernabei also said that any contract stipulations that allow for
provocative content on Imus' show are probably balanced by "something
in the contract about appropriate content."
She said, "I'm sure CBS has something about conduct - that he can't
use profanity and has to abide by FCC regulations."
So under this argument, the case could turn on whether Imus' comments
- which referred to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as
"nappy-headed hos" - meets the definition of profanity under FCC
guidelines. The FCC, on its Web site, defines profanity as "including
language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually
hear it as to amount to a nuisance."
In some people's minds, CBS (Charts, Fortune 500) would have a slam
dunk in making that case. Then there would be the matter of whether or
not Imus ever quietly received warnings for previous offensive racial
remarks. And there were several, including once referring to the New
York Times African-American sports columnist Bill Rhoden as a "quota
hire" and PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is black, as a "cleaning lady."
Meanwhile, Imus plans to retreat to his ranch in New Mexico for the
summer before deciding whether to make another go of it on the radio.
Many have speculated he could wind up in the unregulated world of
satellite radio, but Dietl, his close friend, thinks he'll be back on
terrestrial radio. "He's going to take off the summer, but I think
he'll be back and stronger than ever," he said.
Imus won't go quietly
The talk show host has hired a top First Amendment lawyer, and an
unusual clause in his contract could give him a $40 million payday,
writes Fortune's Tim Arango.
By Tim Arango
May 2 2007: 12:48 PM EDT
NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Don Imus, the tousled and acerbic radio host
whose racial remarks engendered a media storm that triggered a swift
upending of his career, is not going away quietly even if the
imbroglio has all but disappeared from the national conversation in
the wake of the Virginia Tech massacre.
For Imus, who made a career out of operating in the murky space
between sophomoric humor and high-brow political talk, there is the
little matter of about $40 million left on his contract with CBS Radio
- whose boss Les Moonves fired the shock jock on April 12. CBS'
lawyers contend Imus was fired for cause and not owed the rest of the
money.
But Imus has hired one of the nation's premiere First Amendment
attorneys, and the two sides are gearing up for a legal showdown that
could turn on how language in his contract that encouraged the radio
host to be irreverent and engage in character attacks is interpreted,
according to one person who has read the contract.
The language, according to this source, was part of a five-year
contract that went into effect in 2006 and that paid Imus close to $10
million a year. It stipulates that Imus be given a warning before
being fired for doing what he made a career out of - making off-color
jokes. The source described it as a "dog has one- bite clause." A
lawsuit could be filed within a month, this person predicted.
A CBS spokesman declined comment, and Imus, through his attorney, also
declined an interview.
Bo Dietl, a private investigator and author who is a long-time Imus
confidante and was a regular guest on the show, has been making the
rounds of the cable talk shows defending his friend and had this to
say to Fortune: "I just heard that there is a contract in place, and
that he can't be fired without a warning."
Imus has hired Martin Garbus, a New York-based attorney at the law
firm Davis & Gilbert who is widely recognized as one of the country's
most able First Amendment lawyers. Time Magazine, for one, has called
him "legendary, one of the best trial lawyers in the country." He's
successfully represented the comedian Lenny Bruce against criminal
charges on First Amendment grounds, and the writer Robert Sam Anson in
a lawsuit filed by Walt Disney trying to halt the publication of a
book critical of the media giant.
But in Imus' case, his free speech rights are tempered by the fact
that he said what he said on the public airwaves - which are subject
to Federal Communications Commission regulations about what is
appropriate content.
"[Garbus is] a First Amendment lawyer who's argued many important
cases," said Washington, D.C.-based attorney Lynne Bernabei, who has
often represented plaintiffs in employment disputes. "I'm sure they're
trying to make this a First Amendment case. But the airwaves are
heavily regulated by the FCC.
"In my mind there is a big difference between someone who is under
contract and is under FCC regulations and someone who speaks out in
town hall. This is someone in a heavily regulated industry and who
used the public airwaves."
Bernabei also said that any contract stipulations that allow for
provocative content on Imus' show are probably balanced by "something
in the contract about appropriate content."
She said, "I'm sure CBS has something about conduct - that he can't
use profanity and has to abide by FCC regulations."
So under this argument, the case could turn on whether Imus' comments
- which referred to members of the Rutgers women's basketball team as
"nappy-headed hos" - meets the definition of profanity under FCC
guidelines. The FCC, on its Web site, defines profanity as "including
language so grossly offensive to members of the public who actually
hear it as to amount to a nuisance."
In some people's minds, CBS (Charts, Fortune 500) would have a slam
dunk in making that case. Then there would be the matter of whether or
not Imus ever quietly received warnings for previous offensive racial
remarks. And there were several, including once referring to the New
York Times African-American sports columnist Bill Rhoden as a "quota
hire" and PBS anchor Gwen Ifill, who is black, as a "cleaning lady."
Meanwhile, Imus plans to retreat to his ranch in New Mexico for the
summer before deciding whether to make another go of it on the radio.
Many have speculated he could wind up in the unregulated world of
satellite radio, but Dietl, his close friend, thinks he'll be back on
terrestrial radio. "He's going to take off the summer, but I think
he'll be back and stronger than ever," he said.
