Schlessinger made the announcement Tuesday afternoon on "Larry King Live."
"The reason is I want to regain my First Amendment rights, she told Larry King. "I want to be able to say what's on my mind and in my heart and what I think is helpful and useful without somebody getting angry, some special interest group deciding this is the time to silence a voice of dissent and attack affiliates, attack sponsors. I'm sort of done with that."
She said she is not retiring, but has decided not to do radio anymore. She said she will continue to write books and publish articles on the Internet, as well as maintain her speaking engagements.
"I'm not retiring, I'm not quitting, I feel energized actually," she said. "Stronger and freer to say the things that I believe need to be said for people in this country."
Schlessinger came under fire last week for using the N-word during her radio talk show.
During the exchange on last Tuesday, Schlessinger told a caller she was "hypersensitive" for complaining of racist comments from her husband's friends. She said "black guys say it all the time" and went on to repeat the N-word several times.
When the caller objected, Schlessinger replied: "Oh, then I guess you don't watch HBO or listen to any black comedians."
Schlessinger also said that if the caller did not have a sense of humor about race, she shouldn't have entered into an interracial marriage.
Schlessinger later said on her website that she had actually been trying to make a philosophical point, but that she now believes she was wrong. She said she "realized I had made a horrible mistake, and was so upset, I could not finish the show."
Schlessinger said she pulled herself off the air at the end of the hour.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
