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Imus Seeks $40 Million Revenge

Fri., May. 4, 2007 10:09 AM PDT by Gina Serpe

Three words may have gotten Don Imus into this mess, but he's hoping three others may get him out of it: breach of contract.

A lawyer for the shock jock, who was fired from his CBS radio gig on Apr. 12 amid a storm of criticism for referring to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos," is claiming that the real victim in all this is Imus himself, who attorney Martin Garbus insists was ousted for simply doing his job.

As a result, Garbus has announced plans to file a complaint against the network seeking to collect the remainder of Imus' five-year, $40 million contract. At the time of his firing, Imus was just three months into his new deal.

While Garbus acknowledges Imus' comments about the college players were offensive and inappropriate, the attorney maintains that the pundit neither broke any laws nor violated any Federal Communications Commission regulations.

Furthermore, Garbus claims, CBS had encouraged, and profited from, Imus' un-PC riffs.

Garbus, a First Amendment lawyer whose previous clients include Spike Lee, Public Enemy and Lenny Bruce, told Good Morning America that in his contract with CBS, the network specifically implored Imus to cover "extraordinary," "irreverent" and, most important, "controversial" topics on his syndicated radio show, which was simulcast daily on MSNBC.

The attorney also claimed that per the terms of Imus' new contract, the host would be issued one warning in the wake of any verbal malfeasance before further action was taken and that that procedure, set in place for just such an occurrence, did not take place in this instance.

What's more, Garbus said, is that both CBS Radio and MSNBC were intentionally "creating a shock jock" and that Imus was simply doing "exactly what they wanted him to do."

According to the lawyer, both outlets had the opportunity to edit out Imus' derogatory remarks via a delay button.

"That means CBS and MSNBC both knew the language that was going out, and both knew the language complied with [Imus'] contract," the attorney said. "It was consistent with many of the things he had done."

An MSNBC spokesperson has since denied the claim, saying the broadcast aired without delay and that the network would not have had time to edit the remarks.

CBS Radio, meanwhile, has released a statement saying that they are prepared to fully and vigorously defend Imus' firing.

"We terminated Mr. Imus for cause," the network said. "Based on the comments in question and relevant contract terms, we believe that the termination was appropriate and CBS would expect to prevail in any attempt by Mr. Imus to recover money for his actions."

Garbus said he will file the complaint by the end of next week.

CBS Radio, which has been auditioning other hosts but has yet to choose a successor for the prized a.m. slot, has already been on the winning end of one legal action stemming from the Imus termination.

Last month, a Southern California station agreed to stop airing "best of" Imus in the Morning segments (which the station had been broadcasting as a "listener service" after the firing in open defiance of CBS Radio) after the corporation filed a federal copyright infringement suit.