But it’s clear to me that you jumbled your words, anticipating “king” and “junior” while talking quickly. I’m progressive and very skeptical of racism denial. A mistake made without malice should never cost so anyone this severely. I hope that you find work in your field very soon. Kappell’s Twitter account has been flooded with people expressing outrage not over the flub but the decision to can the meteorologist.Īs an African American, this clearly seems like he got tongue ties with the words. Your support means so much to this family.Ī huge support system has echoed similar sentiments. The famous weather man tweeted his support for Kappell – calling the comment a flub and asking that he be given the chance to apologize.Īl, thank you very much. This time around, Roker has come to the defense of Kappell. Colleague Al Roker was vocal at the time about his belief that her apology should have gone farther. Last fall, Today show anchor Megyn Kelly was fired following steady outcry over her remarks about blackface being acceptable when she was younger. In an era of outrage culture, calls for the immediate termination of a public figure have become more common. There can be no confusion by anyone who works at Hubbard Broadcasting or by anyone in the communities we serve, that this is unacceptable.” “ An utterance such as this, with no immediate apology, regardless of intent, is unacceptable and inexcusable. “ clearly voiced a racially derogatory term,” the statement said. The station manager and Robert Hubbard, president of the Hubbard Television group, elaborated more in a statement to The Washington Post. “We are proud of our dedicated newsroom professionals and expect and require that each respects and understands that their behavior reflects directly on the station for which they work and the community we serve.” “We believe strongly in holding our reporters and anchors to the highest standard,” Reingold said. Reingold and two station anchors addressed the controversy on-air Monday night. He claims the decision to fire Kappell was made internally Sunday afternoon – before Mayor Warren made her social media post. She added that this incident was another example of local media lacking “cultural sensitivity and competency.” “It took the station nearly two days to apologize, and only after the station was shamed into doing so by a backlash on social media,” she said in a statement. Mayor Warren went on to slam the station after they announced Kappell’s firing on Monday. “wrong, hurtful and infuriating” that WHEC Channel 10 had aired the “racial slur.” In a Sunday night Facebook post she said it was: She was vocal over the weekend about calling out the deeper issue in Kappell’s use of the word and directed a large portion of her condemnation at the station. Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, a black woman, was among those calling for his termination. Outrage quickly grew online with viewers calling him racist and demanding he be fired. Kappell went on with his weathercast, but viewers didn’t let it slide. The 20-year meteorology veteran corrected the name in the moment but didn’t address what actually came out. Park,” he said during the weather segment. “It looked gray at Martin Luther coon…King Jr. Kappell quickly said the name of the park, seeming to combine the words “king” and “junior” too quickly resulting in actually voicing “coon.” Park, a local spot named after the civil rights leader. January 10th, 2019 – A meteorologist in Rochester, New York has been fired after using a racial slur live on-air – a moment he explains as simply a flub rather than an intentional disparagement. Jeremy Kappell, the WHEC chief meteorologist, made the comment Friday night while talking about Martin Luther King Jr.
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