Is Imus in hiding?

[What_the]

@samclem

Not really a General Question. Moved to MPSIMS.

samclem GQ moderator

Actually there were two general questions …

The first seems to have been answered (that all but Imus are still doing a show)…but I thought that Mike and Mike (the sports guys) had taken over their spot???

The second has to do with a comment that I thought I had heard from one of HRC’s “team” in the few weeks before the incident.

So maybe this should get moved back?

[Fear_Itself]

@Absolute

I’m sure it has a clause in it that allows for early termination by CBS. The contract was probably to prevent him from jumping ship, not them from kicking him out.

I don’'t think so:

Before either happens, Imus will sit down with officials from CBS Radio to work out the financial details surrounding his abrupt dismissal. Imus recently negotiated a new five-year CBS contract that reportedly paid him $10 million a year. (Imus had no contract with cable network MSNBC – which simulcast his show in a licensing deal with CBS.)

“I see many people in suits with briefcases haggling over Imus’ contracts,” said Tom Taylor, editor of the trade publication Inside Radio.

Once they are settled, Imus presumably could try to restart his career on radio – either satellite or terrestrial – or perhaps on television.

An on-air talent at the level of Imus would never sign a contract that let CBS off the hook so easily.

[Wee_Bairn]

@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker

Imus has a face made for radio, and a voice made for print.

[OneCentStamp]

@bluethree

Imus is only 67? He must have lived a hard life.

The scary thing is that Imus has looked and sounded pretty much the same (i.e. like a piece of stale jerky come to unnatural life) for the past 25 years.

[Marley23]

@What the .... ?!?!

but I thought that Mike and Mike (the sports guys) had taken over their spot???

That was a temporary move.

[What_the]

@Marley23

That was a temporary move.

This morning on MSNBC I caught a glimpse of a bald headed guy who must have replaced Imus. He looked somewhat familiar but his name did not ring a bell. I didn’t get a chance to look for any of the sidekicks. Are any of them on the show?

[Fear_Itself]

@What the .... ?!?!

This morning on MSNBC I caught a glimpse of a bald headed guy who must have replaced Imus. He looked somewhat familiar but his name did not ring a bell. I didn’t get a chance to look for any of the sidekicks. Are any of them on the show?

That’s Michael Smerconish, a radio show host in Philly. He also subs for Bill O’Reilly on occasion, and makes appearances on Joe Scarborough from time to time.

His radio show is being simulcast on MSNBC, though today is the last day, according to this schedule.

[madisonmax]

If he’s not in hiding, he should be.

I doubt if anybody will miss his MSNBC show, which pulled down a whopping 1 rating at best.

[What_the]

Bernard McGuirk is scheduled to appear on Hannity and Colmes tonight at 9pm.

[Fear_Itself]

Imus is filing a $40 million lawsuit against CBS, claiming wrongful breach of contract:

Imus had $40 million remaining on a multiyear contact that began in 2006 and included a clause that CBS wanted him to be “irreverent” and “controversial,” according to CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was shown part of the contract.

“Company (CBS Radio) acknowledges that Artist’s (Imus’) services to be rendered hereunder are of a unique, extraordinary, irreverent, intellectual, topical, controversial and personal character and that programs of the same general type and nature containing these components are desired by Company and are consistent with Company rules and policies.”

…

“What stands out in the contract is he is supposed to be controversial and irreverent. That’s what his statement about the Rutgers basketball team was,” Toobin said.

“How is CBS going to argue that what he said was so controversial and so offensive that it isn’t what they asked for in the contract?”

Another complication is a clause in his contract that stipulates Imus must receive a warning before being fired.

Sounds like CBS has their work cut out for them.