Train Wrecks
MSNBC: "Sluts" OK, "Hos" Not

Four years before Neanderthal Don Imus got tossed by MSNBC, an on-air Michael Savage called one of his own colleagues a "slut" who "looks like she went from porno into reporting" -- and nothing happened. Don Imus, Ashleigh Banfield
Ashleigh Banfield was with MSNBC in 2003 when Savage, whom she never met, ripped her on MSNBC's airwaves. Banfield was watching live at the time and immediately went to her bosses to ask for some kind of response. She got nothing.

"I am not sure if a lot of people understand what it feels like to be publicly besmirched by your own team," Banfield told TMZ. "But then to have nothing happen, to have no consequences because of it, is doubly painful."

Imus was dropped after he referred to the Rutgers women's basketball team as "nappy-headed hos." Savage was let go from MSNBC later in 2003 when he said a caller should "get AIDS and die."

Banfield, now with Court TV, says that MSNBC should be commended for not ducking the issue and for taking a stand. "I think it's an extraordinarily difficult decision that MSNBC had to make. But I do think that it's a very bold one and I think they should be applauded for not trying to sweep an issue under the carpet ... I wish they'd taken a bold stand when I was getting ripped in two on the air. " Better late than never.



Tags: ashleigh banfield, AshleighBanfield, don imus, DonImus

Reader Comments

(Page 2 of 8) Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments

16. Don Imus should never have been fired the way he was. He was never given a chance to meet with the women. MSNBC has been wanting to ditch him for years. They used this as the reason. (How about all the comments Sharpton made about Jews? Rap music? How about the boys that ere charged incorrectly with raping the stripper?) Let's get real here.

Posted at 2:24PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Annie Baxter

17. What ever happened to free speech .. seems to me that back in the day... we did not have to walk on eggs shells.. and watch ever single word we said...

Posted at 3:06PM on Apr 12th 2007 by x

18. They took too long to fire his ass!

Posted at 12:11PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Tazzygirl6

19. well said michelle!

Posted at 12:11PM on Apr 12th 2007 by mark

20. I currently employed at a equal oppurtunity -JOB. However, there is alot of reverse
discrimination there.
Ashleigh, sorry for your experience at msnbc but there's the proof how they handle
things at that organization. fyi they have the lowest ratings of all the cable networks
with the loss of Imus -forget it.

Posted at 12:16PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Tina

21. Bimbo Alert! Like Ashleigh is a nice person...not!

Posted at 12:17PM on Apr 12th 2007 by mickeylou

22. lmao liz, i hear ya!

Posted at 12:16PM on Apr 12th 2007 by paul

23. 4. Ashleigh should be called worse. I cant stand her show on court tv I watch court tv all day except for 1-3 when she is on. She should talk after all she has said about Anna Nicole and Howard K Stern. She SHOULD BE FIRED for the comments she's made lately. Her phony voices makes me SICK. I stopped watching her the day Lily Sanchez was on defending Howard K Stern and said they all should be held liable for their words, and she quotes a case that was wrong. She went on to say "Anna was drugged up all day and didn't know what she had for breakfast" that was it for me. Good Luck L Lin Wood and Howard K Stern, because after Greta I for one would go after Ashleigh. By the way wasn't she FIRED from CNN also. Good reputation Ashleigh.

Posted at 11:55AM on Apr 12th 2007 by Michelle

Really smart person posting here on current events. Upholding for a man voted
to be one of the most hated men in America against a professional journalist
with Banfields creds. Hey Michelle, did you happen to catch Ashley broadcasting
from Iraq when the war first started?
Oh and by the way, CNN ownes Court TV. Seems the only thing that you know
is soap tv.

Posted at 1:37PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Suzanne

24. Hey ..Who on earth has NOt SAID things they don't really mean or regret later on?? No one... we are all human.......

Posted at 3:04PM on Apr 12th 2007 by PJ

25. Put your jacket on liz, forecast calls for freezing temps for eturnity down here

Posted at 12:18PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Loucerferr

26. When my son asked me what this was all about and I had to repeat the words Imus said, they were just so ridiculous, I couldn't even believe ANYONE could take offense. Surely we are smarter than this. The comment was stupid, folks. People say stupid things every, single solitary day and do not lose their jobs over it. Lord knows, I've been called lots worse and probably everyone reading this has. The beautiful young women of the basketball team KNOW they bear no resemblence to that quote, so what are we doing? Don Imus has been saying these things for years. Now all of a sudden we're SO offended that he should lose his job? I see the good "Reverands" Sharpton and Jackson (these men of God) have no forgiveness for mistakes even when apologies are given, offer no apologies themselves for their offenses, and say they are not finished, saying this is just the beginning. I really hope we do not continue down this road. They cannot use words when they like them and ban them when they don't, depending on WHO is using them. Speech, even and especially unpopular speech, is free in this country. While there are many people I would like to shut up and while I do not agree with what this man said, I most certainly will argue for his CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT to say it.

Posted at 12:19PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Cat

27. To the comment from the person who said they feel sorry for black people.... WTF I DONT...... What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Why is it that blacks can have stand up comedy shows and all black movies and they constantly degrade white people, and the minute someone white says something its like the world is coming to an end. As long as we have Idiots like Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton doing what they do, racism will never die. Matter of fact blacks are more racist towards whites. Why is blacks and gays allowed to have their own cruises???? Because its Human rights...... Oh but don't let white people come and say they want their own cruise, because then we would be called racial. Its all a pile of Bull. I support Don Imus and it is a living disgrace that he was fired......

Posted at 1:10PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Stacey G.

28. that ho has no room to be talking, have you watched her on court tv??? you should listen to some of the comments she makes!!!

Posted at 12:20PM on Apr 12th 2007 by beth

29. Savage got away with it because it was a white on white insult. If Imus were black, then maybe he would've had to apologize, but there probably wouldn't have been that much coverage of it. It probably would've come across the way it was meant to in the first place - a joke, a bad one, but a joke none the less. I'm sure Sharpton or Jackson wouldn't have come in the picture to defend the Rutgers team from another black man.

Posted at 12:21PM on Apr 12th 2007 by Bridgette

30. Sharpton is a moron. I remember the man a few years back with a lot of anger and spitting augly words like crazy over the air. Another one getting his 15 minutes of fame AGAIN! I strongly feel if our wonderful civil rights leader Martin Luther King was alive he would first tell people to forgive Imus. Mr. King would never demand a mans job being taken away. Sharpton and Jackson sure needs to sweep off their own door steps!

I do not agree with what Mr. Imus said, but to fire him? Take away his livelyhood? Cruel! Remember people and CBS if Sharpton tried to call for a boy cot it would not do much good. Hey advertisers running scared again? Why don't you finally stand up to that little peon and just let him run his mouth like he always does.

The reason why I do not allow my grandchildren to listen to rap is the total disrespect that these singers show to the black female race. Where do you think the word that Imus said came from? Double standard SHARPTON AND JACKSON. Sharpton use your energy to stop the rapers from their total disrespect just for the $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Just My Opinion!

Posted at 12:24PM on Apr 12th 2007 by There I said it!

Previous 15 Comments | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Most Recent | Next 15 Comments