The ‘N-word incident’ caught on air between syndicated radio personality Laura Schlessinger – "Dr. Laura" – and an African-American caller led to the conservative host not renewing her contract, which concludes at the end of the year.
In August, caller Anita Hanson wanted advice on dealing with racist comments from her husband’s white relatives. Dr. Schlessinger brushed off Ms. Hanson as being too sensitive. The two argued about the offensiveness of the N-word, which Schlessinger repeated numerous times.
On the ‘The Dr. Laura Program,’ Ms. Hanson asked, “Is it okay to say that word? Is it ever okay to say that word?” Schlessinger responded: “It depends how it’s said.”
In apologizing for her remarks, Schlessinger said, “I talk every day about doing the right thing. And yesterday I did the wrong thing.” She will be quitting after a 30-year radio career.
"The reason [for quitting] is, I want to regain my First Amendment rights," she told CNN's Larry King Live." "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, attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that."
