Imus explains Jones' comments

Jun 24, 2008 - 12:10 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- World-renowned radio broadcaster Don Imus explained his comments regarding Dallas Cowboys cornerback Adam Jones on Tuesday morning.

Imus, who was fired for making racially insensitive comments about the Rutgers women's basketball team more than a year ago, made headlines again Monday for comments he made regarding Jones during his "Imus in the Morning" radio program.

During a segment about why Jones dropped his well-known nickname "Pacman," anchor Warner Wolf told Imus that Jones had "been arrested six times since being drafted by the Tennessee Titans in 2005."

Imus asked, "What color is he?" and Wolf responded by saying that "he's African-American."

"Well, there you go," Imus replied. "Now we know."

On Tuesday morning, Imus said his comments had been misinterpreted.

"Obviously I thought they (the police) were picking on him, so I asked what color he was," he said. "Obviously I knew what color he was in order to make a sarcastic point. 'There you go. That's the point.' What people should be outraged about is that they arrest blacks for no reason.

"My point was, there was no reason to arrest him six times. ... If he gets arrested six times we know why he gets arrested six times. That's my point."

Jones was "truly upset" about the comments, according to an article posted early Tuesday morning on the Dallas Morning News' web site.

"Obviously Mr. Imus has problems with African-Americans," Jones told the newspaper. "I'm upset, and I hope the station he works for handles it accordingly. I will pray for him."

Imus returned to radio months after being fired by CBS under the sponsorship of Citadel Broadcasting Corp, with distribution by ABC Radio Networks.

Imus stirred up national controversy after referring to the Rutgers women's basketball players as "nappy-headed ho's" following the 2007 NCAA Tournament championship game.

The incident received national media attention, and Imus eventually was fired for the comments.