Conservative talk radio host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, under fire after a racially-charged rant where she hurled the "n-word" at least 11 times, says she will not renew her radio contract at the end of the year. Schlessinger made the announcement on CNN's Larry King Live were she said she "was trying to make a point to help" the Black caller with "her hypersensitivity" and didnt want to be muzzled.
"I'm here to say that my contract is up for my radio show at the end of the year, and I've made the decision not to do radio anymore. The reason is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights. I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart, and what I think is helpful and useful, without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates and attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that. I'm not retiring. I'm not quitting. I feel energized, actually -- stronger and freer to say the things that I believe need to be said for people in this country."
Watch AFTER THE JUMP ...
Schlessinger claims her "First Amendment rights" have been "usurped by angry, hateful groups." The radio host also blasted Media Matters for their campaign calling on advertisers to distance themselves from the controversial host. In the last week, General Motors and Motel 6 have dropped their sponsorship of Schlessinger's show ... which might have factored in Schlessinger's decision.
The New York Times Media Decoder adds:
In her three decades on the radio, Dr. Schlessinger’s popular show — at its peak it was the second highest-rated radio show after The Rush Limbaugh Show — has come under fire from rights groups a number of times. In 2000, a coalition of gay activists launched a Web site, StopDrLaura.com, and organized protests and boycotts across the United States and Canada in response to her comments about homosexuality, which she referred to as a “biological error.” They were also angered by her outspoken stance against adoption by same-sex couples, and remarks in which she said that a “a huge portion of the male homosexual populace is predatory on young boys.” Dr. Schlessinger apologized for many of her comments, but many of her advertisers left her radio show, and a television show she started in 2000 was ended a year later. On the Web site StopDrLaura.com Tuesday night, a headline at the top of the home page declared, 'We Stopped Dr Laura.'”
And it couldn't happen to a better person. Watch the announcement AFTER THE JUMP ...
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