Andy Rooney Compares Himself to Rushdie

Commentator Andy Rooney, under suspension from CBS for three months for allegedly making a racist remark, said Sunday that the subsequent publicity barrage made him feel like novelist Salman Rushdie, who was condemned to death for his writings.

In a syndicated column, Rooney, the resident humorist at “60 Minutes,” again insisted that he did not make the controversial comments attributed to him by a reporter for the Advocate, a newspaper for homosexuals based in Los Angeles.

“I not only deny the quote attributed to me, I say the quotation was made up by a young reporter who couldn’t take notes,” Rooney said.

The article in the Advocate quotes the commentator as saying, “Most people are born with intelligence, but blacks have watered down their genes because the less-intelligent ones are the ones that have the most children. They drop out of school early, do drugs and get pregnant.”

Rooney was suspended for three months on Thursday by CBS News President David Burke. His future with the network after that time remains uncertain.

In the column, Rooney said the remarks attributed to him came from an “angry gay organization” that had conducted an organized campaign against him after he made comments during a “60 Minutes” commentary that they called homophobic.

Rooney said he was subjected to intense public scrutiny after the quotes in the Advocate were first reported, describing the barrage of phone calls he received at his office from news organizations seeking comment.

“Outside the front door, as we answered calls upstairs, camera crews were lined up on the sidewalk waiting for me to poke out my head out the door so they could pounce on me,” he said. “I felt like Salman Rushdie.”

Rushdie was sentenced to death last year by the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini after the Iranian leader labeled his novel, “The Satanic Verses,” blasphemous to Muslims. Rushdie remains in hiding in England.

After the suspension became public Friday, the network’s Manhattan switchboards were deluged by thousands of mostly angry callers who implored the network to reinstate Rooney.

Sources said that virtually all callers were pro-Rooney. CBS declined to comment on the reaction.