On the station’s website, General Manager Richard Reingold confirmed that Kappell was no longer employed by the company. On Monday, the station announced that Kappell had, indeed, been shown the door. Though WHEC apologized, that wasn’t enough for Kappell’s critics, who continued to demand that he be fired.

“This is completely unacceptable and contrary to all standards of broadcasting.” Similarly, the Association of Black Broadcasters also called for Kappell’s firing. There must be real consequences for the news personality involved.” It is beyond unacceptable that this occurred. “It is wrong, hurtful and infuriating that WHEC Channel 10 broadcast a racial slur in reference to Dr. For example, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren, who is black, called for Kappell to be fired immediately, according to iHeartRadio. Kappell’s colleagues in the newsroom didn’t say anything at the time and continued with the broadcast.Īlmost immediately, the calls for Kappell’s firing began. Park.” “Coon” has at times been used as a racial slur against African-Americans. Last Friday, Kappell was delivering his report for WHEC-TV in Rochester, New York, when he apparently uttered the words “Martin Luther Coon King Jr. 'While we are aware the station has issued an apology, we expect a complete explanation of what happened.TV meteorologist Jeremy Kappell has been fired after apparently uttering a racial slur in reference to Martin Luther King, Jr., NBC News is reporting. Memorial Park….This is completely unacceptable and contrary to all standards of broadcasting. A statement released on the group's Instagram page said: 'The condemns the clearly racist language used to describe Dr Martin Luther King Jr. The Rochester Association of Black Journalists criticized the meteorologist on Instagram. '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,' it read. The statement criticized the station further, and condemned the gap between the incident and WHEC's official apology. There must be real consequences for the news personality involved and also for the management team that failed to immediately apologize and address the slur,' read a joint statement from the mayor, Council President Loretta Scott and the Rochester City Council. 'It is beyond unacceptable that this occurred. The incident gained national attention when Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren called for the meteorologist's dismissal. I regret that we did not immediately interrupt our broadcast and apologize on the spot,' he said in a statement. 'These words have no place on News10NBC's air, and the fact that we broadcast them disheartens and disgusts me that it was not caught immediately is inexcusable. Reingold apologized for the incident and said Kappell had been fired after an internal investigation. It's a new day in Rochester,' wrote Kenneth B. Now that you're fired, you lie to explain it away. You've said it before but you slipped and said it on air this time. 'You know damn well you said Martin Luther 'Coon' King Jr Park. So fast to the point where I jumbled a couple of words,' he said in the video.Īlthough some Twitter users supported the meteorologist, others condemned his words.

'If you watch me regularly you know that I tend to contain a lot of information in my weathercast, which forces me to speak fast and unfortunately I spoke a little too fast when I was referencing Dr. Kappell said the incident was a 'simple misunderstanding' in a Facebook video. If you did feel it hurt you in any way I sincerely apologize.' 'That's not a word I said and I promise you that. 'As soon as I mispronounced it I put an emphasis on King and moved on. 'There was no malice,' he said in a statement.

After facing criticism for his words, the meteorologist claimed to have misspoken. Read more: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez says there is 'no question' that Donald Trump is racist during '60 Minutes' interviewĪccording to CNN, Kappell said 'King' after the slur, and then carried on with the show. Jeremy Kappell called the Martin Luther King Jr Memorial Park in Rochester 'Martin Luther Coon. Rochester, New York station WHEC-TV has fired a meteorologist after he used a racial slur during a live broadcast on Friday evening.

Meteorologist racial slur audio