A day after embattled broadcaster Don Imus was fired by his radio bosses, the women's basketball team he insulted on-air released a statement saying they have accepted his apology.

Rutgers women's basketball coach C. Vivian Stringer, centre, accompanied by university officials and members of her team, talks on the steps of the governor's mansion in Princeton Township, N.J., on Thursday after meeting with Don Imus.
(Mike Derer/Associated Press)

C. Vivian Stringer, the head coach of Rutgers University's women's basketball team, made the announcement on Friday and read from a statement by the predominantly black, 10-member team.

In their statement, the Scarlet Knight players said they accepted Imus's apology, but "we still find his statements to be unacceptable, and this is an experience that we will never forget," they wrote.

"These comments are indicative of greater ills in our culture. It is not just Mr. Imus, and we hope that this will be and serve as a catalyst for change."

On Thursday evening, the longtime radio host met briefly with team's 10 players and their head coach at the New Jersey governor's mansion. Earlier in the day, he had been fired by his bosses at CBS.

In a bizarre twist, New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine was seriously injured in a highway accident while en route to preside over the meeting. Officials listed him as in critical, but stable, condition. Senate president Richard Codey became acting governor Thursday.

Codey told WNBC-TV on Friday that Corzine was "in serious shape, but he's alive and going to survive. Hopefully, he'll be back to work in a few weeks."

Wife stands in for charity fundraiser show

On Friday morning, author and environmentalist Deirdre Imus sat in for her husband on the radio to co-host the second part of a two-day, on-air charity fundraiser.

CBS fired longtime radio host Don Imus on Thursday, just a week after he uttered offensive comments about the Rutgers University women's basketball team on-air.
(Richard Drew/Associated Press)

"He feels awful," she said of her controversial husband, who has been at the centre of a firestorm since his on-air remarks last week describing the Rutgers team as "nappy-headed ho's."

She also spoke of her husband's Thursday-night meeting with the players.

"They gave us the opportunity to listen to what they had to say and why they're hurting and how awful this is," she said, during her stint co-hosting New York station WFAN-AM's annual radiothon benefit, which raises funds for children's charities.

Her husband asked the young players about the pain he had caused them and "how to fix this and change this," she told the Imus in the Morning audience.

The fallout from his comments has even encompassed her new book Green This!, which was released this week. A scheduled promotional tour in support of the title — a how-to book about using more environmentally friendly ways to clean one's home — has been postponed due to the uproar surrounding her husband.

Irascible rep built over nearly 30 years

As one of the pioneering shock jock radio personas and over his nearly 30 years as a broadcaster, Don Imus has built a reputation with his irascible, cantankerous personality and propensity for offensive comments.

However, this latest remark — generally hailed as racist and sexist — drew a flood of criticism, largely from civil rights activists and from women's groups.

Rev. Al Sharpton was among those who immediately condemned radio personality Don Imus for the comments. The two faced off on Sharpton's radio show on Monday.
(Richard Drew/Associated Press)

The initial result was a two-week suspension issued by his bosses at U.S. cable network MSNBC, which carried a TV simulcast of his radio program, and CBS, which owns both the New York station on which Imus in the Morning is broadcast and the distributor that syndicates it across the U.S.

However, as the week progressed, an increasing number of sponsors began to withdraw their support from the Imus show. More politicians and journalists also started adding to the criticism of the popular veteran host.

On Wednesday — a week after Imus originally made the offensive comment — MSNBC announced it would no longer air its simulcast of the hit radio show.

Late Thursday, CBS followed suit, with chief executive Les Moonves cancelling the show and saying that Imus "has flourished in a culture that permits a certain level of objectionable expression that hurts and demeans a wide range of people."

"I believe we take an important and necessary step not just in solving a unique problem, but in changing that culture, which extends far beyond the walls of our company," Moonves said in a statement.

However, the shock jock does still have a community of supporters. On Friday, a small California radio station announced plans for a week-long series featuring the "Best of Imus" starting Monday.

Fred Lundgren, chair of radio station KCAA, acknowledged that Imus's statements were "inexcusable," but also characterized the situation as "an overreaction" and said it "shouldn't end the career of a man who has done so much good."

With files from the Associated Press