Shocked, Shocked To Find Edginess Going On

What a surprise. Turns out that Don Imus' contract may have called for him to be "controversial and edgy," and that the company said it would give him a warning first if he was straying too far over the edge.

Imus was being controversial and edgy when he mad those comments about the women's basketball team, so it may hinge on whether or not CBS had warned him beforehand.

If not, CBS  could be on the hook for the balance of his multimillion-dollar contract. I'm tempted to say: Serves you right. OK, I'll say it: Serves you right.

Imus has been being Imus for decades. What has changed is not the shock jock, but the corporate tolerance for him.

That may only be because the FCC is on a content-regulation roll and it is unwise to bite the hand that can starve you, or it may be that people are growing tired of racism posing as edgy humor, though, frankly, I think Imus was simply trying to be cool rather than cruel and just failed miserably.

Either way, CBS bailed awfully quickly and in a way that gave aid and comfort to those attacking content in general.

By John Eggerton