The first lawsuit against Don Imus and no fewer than a half-dozen corporations has been filed. Why? The attorney speaks:
"This is a lawsuit in order to restore the good name and reputation of my client, Kia Vaughn," said her attorney, Richard Ancowitz, in an exclusive interview with the ABC News Law & Justice Unit.
What Don Imus said was absolutely wrong and there is no justification for what he said. The young women that he slighted deserved only praise and not racist condemnation.
That being said, I do not think this is a lawsuit about restoring "the good name and reputation of" Kia Vaughn. To the degree anyone remembered Ms. Vaughn's name, they already held her in high esteem. She is a fine young woman. She was wronged. An apology was issued. Don Imus was very publicly fired. That seems more than sufficient.
That, of course, is much easier from this side of the keyboard. I haven't had to endure what she has. I haven't walked in her shoes.
But if this is really about reputation, I think it is fair to say this lawsuit does nothing good for that reputation. Quite the opposite, it puts her in a far less favorable light. The lawsuit's breathtaking scope - naming more than six different companies - makes it seem more like greed than restoration of name and reputation.
I am struck by the enormous difference between this situation and that little girl in Boston who publicly forgave the man who shot her leading him to plead guilty to the shooting.
Ms. Vaughn had her name sullied by being part of the team Imus affronted. She could best restore her name by publicly forgiving and moving on. That is a lot to ask of a young woman - I don't know that I could do it - but what a powerful statement it would be.
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David, I agree (which with you is like a 50-50 split).
Money cannot buy a reputation or restore dignity. One's reputation and dignity is a gift one gives to oneself. Imus said disgusting things before the incident and I'm sure he'll contniue. She has suffered no financial loss because of him. This suit appears to be greed (noticed, I said appeared, I cannot read her heart), but even if it is not based on greed, it will not provide one iato of dignity or honor to her reputation.
To the degree anyone remembered Ms. Vaughn's name, they already held her in high esteem.
No. She is a money grubber and a whiner. I remember her, and I have zero esteem for her as a person. If she were my daughter I would be ashamed. Talented, and that's the extent of my esteem.
Just like Imus. Talented, but so what. If he were my son, I would be ashamed as well.
FYI (and you probably already know this), Rod Dreher attacked you for not ragging on Vaughn ENOUGH.
Between you and Rod, if this is Christian charity ... :-(
SOMEBODY out there please help me understand this b.s. Every since this began, we have done nothing but crucify a man who has been granted a free pass for 40 years for his behavior. CBS knew what he was about and we'll move forward from that! I find it incredibly hard to wrap my brain around that fact that these black woman had never,never heard the term "nappy headed whores" before. It is a part of their black culture. Perhaps they didn't ascribe to it, but their black male conterparts use the words against their women for years. All of sudden this is a shock????? and offends their sensibilities??? P L E A S E give me a brake. Just watch a Chris Rock special and see all the black women(many of them upper class) hysterical laughing when he starts referring to black women liking a particular type of sex, or using the term "bitch" to describe black women,etc. Have these black basketball players been on the moon?? I don't think so. I'm sure they go to "frat" parties which are several levels below "classy" quite often (having attended Rutgers myself) NOW it bothers them because a man of lower standards, Al Sharpton told them they should be horribly, horribly offended? We needed to send Mr. Imus out to speak to them and grovel for their forgiveness? God I want to puke. But even after doing so and making sure he lost his job, and after years of doing public service to the poor and disenfranchised (many of them black by the way) that wasn't enough. Now we're going to get on the "suing" bandwagon. Let's make some money off this. Oh, and by the way; who is Kia Vaughn???????? And what was it that happened to her "reputation".
Imus is going to make LOTS of money off this. He's going back into radio ...
"Ever since this began, we have done nothing but crucify a man who has been granted a free pass for 40 years for his behavior. CBS knew what he was about and we'll move forward from that!"
Yes, CBS knew what he was about and (with WNBC and his first Cleveland station) made massive amounts of money off his hateful shtick, so they gave him a "free pass." As soon as they couldn't make money off of him any more, they fired him. (Or do you naively think it was because of Rutgers'/Sharpton's, etc. complaints?)
PS -- Just because African-American men sometimes use NHH, two wrongs don't make a right. Besides, they're not doing it over the PUBLIC AIRWAVES ...
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