CBS fires Don Imus, effective immediately

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The controversial broadcaster has done his last show for CBS. He was fired this afternoon by the network. Don Imus had for over 30 years made a habit of offending people from many ethnic, religious, and racial groups, but the targets were usually politicians, professional athletes, and pundits. His attack last week on the Rutgers University women's basketball team--which came on the day after the team lost in the NCAA national championship game--struck many people as a mean-spirited swipe at young people who did nothing to deserve such treatment. Five of the 10 Rutgers players are freshmen: a year ago, they were high school students. During his show today (which he did not know would be his last), he criticized the media backlash against him, but also took responsibility for making the comments that caused the firestorm. “I said a stupid, idiotic thing that hurt these kids,” he said of the Rutgers players, as quoted by the New York Times. “If I hadn’t have said it, we wouldn’t be here. So let’s stop whining about it.”