Dr. Laura to Quit Radio Show at End of Year (Video)
(HMG) – Dr. Laura Schlessinger announced Tuesday night that she has decided to quit her radio show, after igniting a storm of controversy last week when she used the N-word eleven times in five minutes on the air.
“The reason is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights,” Schlessinger said. “I want to be able to say what’s on my mind…without somebody getting angry.”
The 63-year-old conservative talk show host, speaking on Larry King Live, said she would not renew her contract, which is set to expire this year, and admitted that she was trying to make a philosophical point to an African-American caller, by using the N-word but went about it the wrong way. When the caller pressed Schlessinger about her free use of the racial epithet, the host responded: “Oh, then I guess you don’t watch HBO or listen to any black comedians. My dear, the point I am trying to make … [is that] we’ve got a black man as president and we’ve got more complaining about racism than ever. I think that’s hilarious.”
But she added she isn’t retiring, noting she will continue to write books and make speaking appearances.
The Dr. Laura Program has been no stranger to controversy in its 16 years of syndication; criticism reached another boiling point in 2000, when Schlessinger called homosexuality “a biological error.” Her program remains popular, though, pulling in 8.25 million viewers per week in more than 40 countries.
