Sallie Mae CEO: 'Let's get the $%$% outta here!'

Zac Bissonnette — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:31:00 EST

Sallie Mae (NYSE: SLM)'s earnings conference call went a little off-kilter. Reminiscent of former Enron CEO Jeff Skilling's "a**hole" comment, the Washington Post tells the story. After a bad quarter that sent the stock plummeting, CEO Albert Lord offered few details of his plans for the company on the conference call.

William Kavaler, a managing director of the French bank Societe Generale: "We're trying to figure out what your stock is going to be worth, and you've got to give us some guidance, you've got to give us some numbers."

Lord: "You should give Steve (head of investor relations) a call."

Kavaler: "But you're the CEO. You're the guy who just took over the company."

Lord: "Yeah ... that's exactly right. I'm the CEO. You should give Steve a call. Next question."

Continue reading Sallie Mae CEO: 'Let's get the $%$% outta here!'

Sallie Mae CEO: 'Let's get the $%$% outta here!' originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Dec 2007 11:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Imus idiocy inspires Simmons call for banning three little words

Tom Barlow — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:30:00 EST

Filed under: Bad News, Scandals, Media World

In the wake of Don Imus' "nappy-haired ho's" faux pas, Russell Simmons, co-founder of hip-hop label Def Jam and creator of Phat Farm fashions, has suggested that 'clean' versions of recordings exclude three words currently deemed acceptable - 'ho'', 'nigger' and 'bitch'. His proposal follows a summit meeting of music industry heads last week in New York.

The FCC's regulations for acceptable broadcast language doesn't include a checklist of forbidden words, but in the aftermath of the Janet Jackson areola incident, radio and television stations have been more mindful of criticism. However, the FCC regulations (caution: link contains strong language) consider sexual and scatological references, not cultural and racial slurs.

What Simmons is proposing is a voluntary self-regulation of cultural/racial slurs commonly used by black musicians in reference to those of their own race. Supporters of the initiative point to the degrading impact of such references on both those described and the much-wider audience for hip-hop. Simmons should also expect a backlash from artists who see this as a restriction of their artistic freedom.

I suspect that in the hip-hop world these words have been used so long and often that their stigma has been blurred. However, it's obvious that outside that community, they still can be very hurtful. And when fools like Don Imus start casually adopting these terms, perhaps it is time that artists consider the damage such words can cause to the image of black women.

Imus idiocy inspires Simmons call for banning three little words originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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