Imus Hires Hillary and Katie's Favorite Flack

What's harder: Deflecting attacks on Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton, or restoring Don Imus's tarnished reputation?

Matthew Hiltzik will soon be able to answer that. The super-publicist who organized Clinton's "listening tour" and guided Couric through her transition from NBC to CBS has added Imus to his high-profile client list. He's currently fielding press inquiries surrounding the fallen WFAN talker's return to morning radio on Dec. 3.

Imus will usher in his tenure at WABC with a charity show at New York's Town Hall theater. Tickets recently went on sale, with the $100 price going to the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer.

Hiltzik, whose other clients include Alec Baldwin and Harvey Weinstein, declined to say how long he's been repping Imus or even confirm it, but it's a safe guess the relationship began some time after this article, in which he was quoted offering advice on how Imus could rehabilitate his career following the racially-tinged remark that got him fired from CBS Radio and dropped by MSNBC.

Hiltzik hasn't worked with Clinton in years*, by the way, which is probably fortunate for him from a conflict-of-interest standpoint: Imus has been especially vicious about the Democratic presidential hopeful, famously calling her "that buck-toothed witch, Satan."

*CORRECTION, 11/21/07, 7:43 a.m.: This phrase originally read "Clinton is no longer a client of Hiltzik's firm," which was incorrect. Hiltzik didn't become president and CEO of Freud Communications until 2005; Clinton was never a client of Freud. He coordinated her listening tour while spokesman for the New York State Democratic Committee, and later served as an adviser to her 2000 campaign, according to Variety.

UPDATE, 3:11 p.m.: Jossip says Freud is working primarily on Imus's charitable endeavors, not his radio show.

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