News, Reviews & Commentary on Gay and Bisexual Men in Entertainment and the Media

Surprise, surprise! Don Imus already back to gay baiting

Shock jock Don Imus has had his radio show back for only two weeks and he's already stuck his foot in his mouth. In talking with conservative talker Jay Severin, Imus asked Severin if not supporting prediential candidate Mike Huckabee makes him "gay or what"

“Why don’t you like Huckabee, because you’re gay or what?” Imus inquired. 
To which Severin replied: “I’m very happy, yes, and I would think that would make me like Huckabee.”

Imus then admitted he was being rude to Severin who, he said, “couldn’t be more loyal.” Then he asked Jay he would come back on the show if invited. 

“I’ll think about it,” Severin said, which prompted Imus’ sidekick Charles McCord to quip “if the phone works from the closet.”

Severin tells the Boston Herald that he wasn't offended by Imus' comment. To make his heterosexuality clear he added, "I am only too happy to submit myself for a ‘field test’ with Gisele (Bundchen) and any of her friends, if you can arrange it." Ah, you stay classy Jay!

This isn't the first time Imus' show insulted gays. Earlier this year, he "jokingly" used a Spanish anti-gay slur in an interview with presidential candidate Bill Richardson. After complimenting Chris Matthews' appearance in January 2006, he asserted his manliness by repeating jokes that referred to Brokeback Mountain as "Fudgepack Mountain." In 2000, his reaction to serial killer's Andrew Cunanan went, "Why are they bothering to catch this guy? He's just whacking off freaks!" In April, AmericaBlog posted a four-minute segment where he laughs at jokes at a series of anti-gay jokes.

Imus' history of offensive comments includes women, racial minorities and gays. The controversy over his remarks about the Rutgers Basketball team was a matter of time, as he says things that deserve that kind of furor pretty frequently. It sounds like he's playing that game all over again.

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  • JBE's picture

    Makes one wonder

    about the human race when guys like this pull in listeners by spouting off bigoted comments on minorities.  Not funny, not intelligent, and appeals to some of the worse aspects of human nature.  Then again some people seem to get off by being mean-spirited.  They put it down to being honest, outspoken and anti-elitist.

    Cheers

    JBE

    chisoxfan's picture

    Imus is a jerk

    and so are his followers, and while his popularity is discouraging...not all men are like him. I always try and look at the positives; and look to the places where sexuality increasingly doesn't matter. I'm also spoiled, of course, as I live in Ann Arbor, Mi, and all of my best friends are straight guys who don't care about my sexuality.
    Metabaron's picture

    Jay Severin

    He always claims not to care about someone's sexual orientation but then he goes and spouts slurs like fag, faggot, "Homo-marriage", etc. He supported Anne Coulter when she called John Edwards a faggot, he is against gay-marriage, he is against the term "gay" and demands that gay people be referred to as "homos" or "homosexuals", he equates gay relationships to bestiality, etc.

    The Money being made in the Sewer that is conservative talk radio is obscene. It's like every single one of these conservative talk radio a-holes are sociopaths.

    And if any one has had the displeasure of seeing Jay Severin's face, they know he is vastly uglier than Don Imus. Jay Severin looks like a walking corpse. He is the ugliest MOFO I have ever seen.

    Severin is also probably a closet gay, ala Senator Craig. Not one hour on his radio show goes by that he does not expound on how many women he has had sex with, and how he has had sex with them, and where. He does it so frequently that it is no longer credible and you get the sense that he is incredibly insecure.

    Ironically, He is based in Boston.

    Evan's picture

    Imus is a Bigot

    Surprise, surprise is right.  I was wondering how long it would be before he would make a bigoted comment about gay people.  Gay people are ok targets for ridicule in this country.
    CharliePS's picture

    Imus is what?

    Doesn't anyone realize that Imus in the Morning is comedy and entertainment. The show slams Republicans, Democrats, Catholics, Jews and any one else that is in the news. Bernie, the producer of the show, kids Imus about getting drilled by the drill instructor referring to a gay encounter Imus supposedly had while in the Marine Corps. It is like watching the old TV show "All in the Family". Archie Bunker was a character that pointed out how ridiculous it is to be bigoted. Imus and his crew play all of these characters that sound ridiculous but are funny and in the end make the listener realize how foolish bigotry is. Did you notice that Imus endorses the socially liberal political candidates like John Kerry, Joe Biden and Bill Richardson? He dislikes Bush and Cheney and hates the war in Iraq? He spends his entire summers taking care of terminally ill inner city kids at his Imus Ranch in New Mexico. He fought to get a center built to treat wounded servicemen and at exposed the unsatisfactory conditions at Water Read Army Hospital.


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