Posted by Ted (64.12.101.163) on October 11, 2001 at 05:09:05:
Like this goofy idiot ever listened anyway. (Karma, baby. Karma)
Rush Limbaugh Loses Hearing
Conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh, who commands an audience of 22 million listeners a week, veered away Monday from discussion of the U.S. air strikes on Afghanistan to drop a bombshell of his own -- telling his audience he has lost his hearing and may never regain it.
"I am, for all practical purposes, deaf,'' Limbaugh, 50, said, although he vowed to continue working. "I have lost my ability to hear. I have not yet lost my ability to communicate,'' he said.
Limbaugh in July signed a nine-year contract for a reported $285 million, one of the richest in radio syndication history.
"My desire is to continue doing this, and there are infinite ways of continuing,'' Limbaugh said. "I mean I'm doing this program today, in effect (in) total deafness.''
He said his hearing has continued to deteriorate since May when he discovered he heard nothing in his left ear. Limbaugh said he was exploring surgical procedures and other measures to restore or retain what's left of his hearing.
"I cannot hear a thing in my left ear, with hearing aids, the most powerful made, mean nothing. I have the ability to recognize sound but not identify it in my right ear,'' Limbaugh said.
The revelation sent shockwaves through the industry. ''Imagine trying to talk for a living and not hearing what your saying?'' said Lorrin Palagi, a radio consultant for Zapoleon Media Strategies.
Palagi added, "I think this will affect his audience only positively. Rush Limbaugh has so much passion for what he does, it will overcome any physical handicap he may come to endure.''
While many listeners and radio industry executives had noticed something was amiss and that Limbaugh was sounding different as of late, most had not suspected deafness.