Results tagged “reverendjessejackson”

Fox News captured the Reverend Jesse Jackson criticizing presidential candidate Barack Obama, saying, "See, Barack's been talking down to black people ... I want to cut his nuts off." Jackson was appearing on this past Sunday's Fox & Friends and was speaking to UnitedHealth Group's Reid Tuckson, a fellow guest--but didn't realize his mic was still on. Tonight, Bill O'Reilly aired the clip, and added that Fox News has "more damaging" audio of Jackson, but it's classy like that.

In between campaign stops for March 4th primaries, Hillary Clinton put on a happy face about the recent Saturday Night Live skits that aired during the show's return last week, adding that "it's so nice to be a fashion icon at my age" (video here). Last night the SNL troupe was at it again with an opening skit that mirrored last week's. As Clinton (Amy Poehler) faced off with Obama (Fred Armisen), it became less clear who SNL might be supporting; their Fauxbama is pretty lifeless:

Once upon a time, former President Bill Clinton only meant good things for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid. But now, his poorly received remarks in the past few weeks (a "fairy tale" here, a Jesse Jackson reference there), Hillary Clinton is left claiming her husband is sleep deprived and just human: "Well, I think it's human nature. I think that the spouses of all three of us have, you know, been passionate and vigorous defenders of each of us and, you know, maybe got a little carried away."

Just a few days after a 16-year-old Flatbush resident died after being shot in the head when looking out his window, a 3-year-old girl was grazed by a bullet after buying candy with family and friends.

This morning, NBC News President Steve Capus appeared on the Today show to discuss the immediate ending of radio shock jock Don Imus's MSNBC simulcast. Per TVNewser, Capus said:

There's no question that his program has had provocative conversation and interesting conversation, deep conversation with thought leaders and political leaders through the years. But it's also had the other element. At some point you have to say 'enough is enough.' This went so far over the line that it was time.

Capus also mentioned the most vocal critics he heard from were from NBC itself and said "why have an integrity policy unless you're going to enforce it?" The NBC News chief has denied that the reason for the firing was because advertisers were fleeing, which we sort of buy - given that the show made $50 million in revenue, you could probably find some less prestigious advertisers to fill the ad time. FishbowlDC has been liveblogging Imus's radio show this morning, and Imus talks about hyprocrisy, MSNBC being unethical, and a lack of support from Harold Ford Jr.

. The NBC Nightly News actually had "breaking news" about the decision, and here's the statement from NBC News president Steve Capus:

Effective immediately, MSNBC will no longer simulcast the "Imus in the Morning" radio program. This decision comes as a result of an ongoing review process, which initially included the announcement of a suspension. It also takes into account many conversations with our own employees. What matters to us most is that the men and women of NBC Universal have confidence in the values we have set for this company. This is the only decision that makes that possible. Once again, we apologize to the women of the Rutgers basketball team and to our viewers. We deeply regret the pain this incident has caused.

TVNewser has the internal memo to NBC staffers:

"Over the course of the last week many of you have reached out to me and expressed your strong viewpoints on the Don Imus situation. I've had countless conversations, e-mail exchanges and phone calls with people throughout this company. I've heard you loud and clear. Therefore, we are announcing tonight that MSNBC will no longer simulcast the Imus radio program...

Continue reading "Breaking: MSNBC Boots Imus Off The Cable Air"

On-air personalities (especially those of the "shock jock" genre) are really raising the bar in crossing the line this month. While there's been some high-profile stupid DJ behavior in the past - Hot 97's Tsunami Song, Opie & Anthony broadcasting a couple having sex at St. Patrick's, DJ Star asking listeners for information where a radio rival's young daughter goes to school so he could ejaculate and pee on her - the last week has been a doozy.

Yesterday, Reverend Al Sharpton was joined by the Reverend Jesse Jackson to encourage to african-Americans to trace their roots through family trees. Last week, the Daily News revealed that Ancestry.com genealogists had traced Sharpton's history and found that his great-grandfather was a slave that had been owned by an ancestor of Strom Thurmond's. Sharpton even appeared on the Daily Show (after a segment about the news, titled "Ebony and Irony") to discuss the news - see the video here.

James Brown's death yesterday, to many, was more than a loss of "the hardest working man in show business". Reverend Al Sharpton, who toured with him in the 70s and will lead his funeral services, says Brown was the father he never had. On top of that Brown also helped Sharpton become a civil rights leader, after Brown's son (a friend of Sharpton's) died in a car accident.

Ever since the Saturday police shooting outside a Queens club that killed one man and injured two others, there has been talk of a fourth man in the group. Police have claimed that the undercover officers shot at them because they feared the men were armed, but no weapons were found on the men or in their car. The officers on the scene have insisted a fourth man in a beige jacket was near the car, and the Daily News reported that witnesses picked him out from two lineups. The police hope to speak to him, as they have been looking in the drains near the Kalua Lounge for a dumped gun. But a resident nearby told NY1, "If they find a gun, then none of the kids fingerprints is going to be on it. So that's just a waste of taxpayers' time."

Today, the Reverend Al Sharpton and and the Reverend Jesse Jackson spoke to the press, alongside family members and the fiancee of Sean Bell, who was killed during a Saturday morning police shooting. At a memorial near the club where the shooting occurred, Sharpton said, "We come this morning with the family in their hour of grief. We're all family now. Not a black family, not a white family, not a Latino family, a human family."

Oy. As the debate about Michael Richards, aka Cosmo Kramer from Seinfeld, and his racist rant at comedy club hecklers continues, it now turns out that he may have had a run-in with comedy club patrons - and went off in an anti-Semitic rant at that time! TMZ.com spoke to a couple who says Richards went berserk while, yes,being heckled at LA's The Improv. Carol Oschin said, "Michael Richards said, 'You're a f---ing Jew.' Your people are the cause of Jesus dying."

Venezulan President Hugo Chavez followed up his devilish U.N. appearance with a visit to Harlem's Mount Olivet Baptist Church, where his tirade has earned him a nickname from the NY Post: . (Yeah, it doesn't quite have the ring of "Wacko Jacko.") Though Chavez's main goal was to announce that he would distribute discounted heating oil to the poor, he took the time to continue his jabs at the Commander in Chief :

Bush "is an alcoholic, a sick man and very dangerous. And he has a lot of power," Chavez said.

Continue reading "Hugo Chavez is Having the Best Week Ever"

The chairman of General Motors headed up to Harlem to open the first car dealership there in 40 years on 127th Street, between Second and Third Avenues. Rick Wagoner was joined by Mayor Bloomberg, Representative Charles Rangel, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson for the opening of a Chevrolet-Saturn of Harlem dealership and the Potamkin Cadillac-HUMMER dealership, making them the only car dealerships above 57th Street. GM and the Department of Transportation will also be offering free child safety seat inspections to Harlem families. The city is especially proud of the dealership, as it was created in part by $17 million in Empowerment Zone bonds.

Brooklyn Supreme Court's Justice Theodore Jones nailed the transit union with a huge $2.5 million fine yesterday, plus ordered the union to stop collecting dues, and the Transport Workers Union vowed to appeal the decision. The loss for the TWU could be over $7 million all told, since the TWU takes in $1.6 million in dues each month and the union cannot appeal the dues payment stoppage for three months. The TWU will now have to collect fines on the individual basis, and who knows how successul that will be. Naturally, the MTA appreciated the ruling, saying, "In light of the decision by the TWU leadership last December to willfully violate the Taylor Law and disrupt the lives of millions of New Yorkers, we respect the ruling of the court." The Reverend Jesse Jackson, along with the Reverend Al Sharpton, was present for the fines hearing, and complained that the ruling means unions cannot fight back. You can read TWU president Roger Toussaint's court statement, proclaiming that transit workers were engaging in civil disobedience. With the appeal, Gothamist wonders if the fine will be reduced further, as Justice Jones already knocked off half a million - it seems that since the Taylor Law is in place, the TWU has to be punished in some way, like it or not.

Besides getting the actual new contract approved by the union members, Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Roger Toussaint admitted to a group that the union was battered from the strike. At a Wall Street Project breakfast, he said:

"We paid the price in millions of dollars in fines, 10 times that for our members, and face impending loss of dues check off which is going to hemorrhage the finances of our union. But you cannot take on a fight like this and not get bloodied. We are still here standing before you bloodied but unbowed."

However, other labor unions - and Reverend Jesse Jackson - are urging union members across the country to help with the TWU's fines. NY1 reported Jackson as saying, "Selma wasn't for Selma, Alabama, only. The workers’ fight in New York wasn't for New York only, so workers have an obligation in their own interest to rally the transit workers in New York."

As the Michael Jackson not guilty verdict was announced yesterday, crowds gathered in Times Square and gasped, cheered, or just were dumbstruck. Many New Yorkers seem to believe he was guilty of something, and were surprised that he was found not guilty on all counts, but not that surprised that a celebrity was found not guilty. Some thought that the trial was a witch hunt, and one Bronx woman told the Daily News, "Michael, if you ever want to have any more babies, contact me." All in all, there was every opinion under the sun. Jackson friend Reverend Jesse Jackson did tell Matt Lauer on the Today Show that MJ should never share his bed with a young boy again; let's hope the Reverend's words ring true.