A Rutgers basketball player who sued radio host Don Imus for calling her team “nappy-headed hos” has dropped the defamation case less than a month after filing it, The Post has learned.
Kia Vaughn gave no explanation in her “voluntary discontinuance” of the suit against Imus, his sidekick, Bernard McGuirk, and corporate radio and television partners, which she submitted Thursday in Bronx Supreme Court. Her lawyer could not be reached for comment, and Imus’ lawyer declined to comment.
McGuirk’s high-powered lawyer, Joseph Tacopina, said the suit had no chance of succeeding had Vaughn pursued it.
“The suit was absolutely ridiculous,” he said. “We were gearing up to file a motion to dismiss.”
Vaughn’s complaint sprang from an April broadcast of Imus’ show on WFAN-AM Radio and MSNBC television, when McGuirk called the Rutgers University women’s hoops team “some hardcore hos,” and Imus replied, “That’s some nappy-headed hos there.”
The racist banter created a firestorm that led to Imus’ firing. Vaughn filed suit on Aug. 14.
Tacopina, pointing out that Vaughn was never mentioned by name by Imus or McGuirk, noted that, “They said ‘some nappy-headed hos.’
” ‘Some’ does not include ‘all,’ ” said Tacopina. “It was clearly parody. There was not malicious intent, there was no intent to defame. No one listening that day that was sober said, ‘Oh, my God, they may be prostitutes!’ “