Radio Morning Show Host Don Imus Says Goodbye

Story by All Access

DON IMUS wrapped up his career THURSDAY morning (3/29), ending "IMUS IN THE MORNING" with the assertion that "I'm not gonna miss doing the 'IMUS IN THE MORNING' program... it's hard to do." But his last segment for WESTWOOD ONE and CUMULUS News-Talk WABC-A/NEW YORK -- ending the show early -- indicated his pride in his half-century of broadcasting and his bond with listeners.

IMUS said that he thought the show was over when CHARLES MCCORD left but CONNELL MCSHANE's arrival helped him "get another five, six years out of this bitch, you know." And he proclaimed that "there's been nobody better on the radio than me... nobody ever did this, nobody. But it wasn't me who did this... you know who I'm gonna miss? I'm gonna miss you (the listeners)." Unsuccessfully fighting off tears, IMUS described how the audience came through for his charitable efforts like the IMUS RANCH, he concluded, "I'm gonna miss that.... you have no idea how much I'm gonna miss you."

But he reserved some vitriol for his critics, asserting that "we were neither dissuaded nor diminished by the intellectually, morally, and ethically crippled losers the likes of a racist, bigoted civil rights charlatan (a reference to Rev. AL SHARPTON) or the insecure, envious shock jock all howlin' (HOWARD STERN) and the chorus of like-minded yappin' mutts lost in the dust of the caravan rollin' by on the road to greatness. Rollin' by on the road to greatness! We did that! YOU did that! I did that! That's what we did! You goddamn right! That's what we did!" And with that, IMUS abruptly ended his farewell to the strains of KID ROCK's "You Never Met A Motherf---er Quite Like Me," leaving the show to air repeats of recent shows for the final three hours.

IMUS will be replaced by BERNARD MCGUIRK and SID ROSENBERG, moving to mornings from WABC's midday shift, where they will be in turn replaced by WESTWOOD ONE's CHRIS PLANTE.