Kia Vaughn's Slander Lawsuit against Don Imus

Earlier today I was interviewed by Nina Mandell of Sports Illustrated on Rutgers women's basketball player Kia Vaughn's slander lawsuit against Don Imus. I hope you have a chance to read the transcript of my SI interview. In summary, I believe that Vaughn will have a difficult time succeeding in her claim, but that the claim itself is damaging to Imus, and that makes a settlement likely.

As a related writing from back in April, Jon Hanson and I wrote about Imus in a Situationist piece that generated quite a few reactions, "Hoyas, Hos, and Gangstas." That piece relates to our book project on Situationist Sports and in it, we argue that the underlying prejudice found in Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers' womens basketball team can be found in other sports contexts, including in how we talk about male African-American basketball players, such as Georgetown University basketball players, and in how we regulate the behavior of basketball players, such as the NBA's recent attempts to make its players seem more "likeable" to mainstream America. However, unlike with the universal outrage we all expressed at Imus for his comments, these instances occurr in ways that we take for granted, find unoffensive, or even support. Jon and I try to examine why that might be the case.

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