

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. Because of her actions, my family and I have suffered greatly these past many months and unfortunately she has taken zero responsibility and has shown no willingness to move towards a resolution. She left us with no other option.Ī statement from city officials points out that Kappell had already been fired by WHEC before Warren posted her statement about Kappell's comments.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.
#Meteorologist racial slur live full
After almost a full year of deliberation the decision was formally made to file lawsuit against Mayor Lovely Warren with regards to her involvement in my termination at News10 WHEC and also the defamation created by her careless public accusations and unlawful demands for me to be fired. As a result, not only have I lost a job and potentially a 20 year career, but my family's name has been permanently tarnished. In a post on his website, Kappell wrote that he'd filed a defamation civil suit against the City of Rochester and Warren over his firing in January.
#Meteorologist racial slur live tv
The former TV meteorologist has already filed a lawsuit against WHEC's general manager, Richard Reingold, and the station's parent company, Hubbard Broadcasting, alleging breach of contract and defamation. Two days after the segment aired, Mayor Lovely Warren and City Council president Loretta Scott demanded that Kappell be fired by WHEC management, calling his use of a racial slur "beyond unacceptable." I had no idea the way it came across to many people," Kappell said. In my mind I knew I mispronounced, but there was no malice.

So fast to the point where I jumbled a couple of words. If you watch me regularly you know that I tend to contain a lot of information in my weather cast, which forces me to speak fast and unfortunately I spoke a little too fast when I was referencing Dr. "What happened on Friday, to me, it's a simple misunderstanding. Shortly after the segment aired, Kappell claimed he hadn't intended to say that word and had been speaking too quickly in a Facebook live video. Kappell did not correct himself at the time.

Park" while a photo of a downtown park that bore King's name was on the screen. Jeremy Kappell was on the air during a segment of the evening news when he said something that sounded like "Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park" during an on-air segment has filed a lawsuit against Rochester and its mayor accusing her of defamation. A former New York television meteorologist who was fired after allegedly referring to a downtown Rochester park as "Martin Luther Coon King Jr.
