![]() ![]() Day." Blair said he stumbled over his words and apologized during later telecasts but still lost his job. One parallel case to Kappell's is Rob Blair, a Las Vegas weatherman who was fired in 2005 after saying the temperature would be in the mid-60s on "Martin Luther Coon King Jr. A judge was removed from the bench in Bemidji, Minnesota, after saying "Martin Luther Coon Day" twice. A small-town Alaska mayor named Coon said in 1991 that his surname gave him the right to call King "Coon" for some reason. James Earl Ray, who assassinated King in Memphis in April 1968, reportedly used both the "Coon" and "Lucifer" slurs to refer to the man he killed.Īs King's legend grew in the decades after his death, the slur became less common but still cropped up, largely in rural communities. Terrel Bell, education secretary during Ronald Reagan's first term, wrote in his memoir that White House staff members went a step further, calling King "Martin Lucifer Coon." King was struck in the head with a rock during a march in Chicago where white protesters shouted, "We want Martin Luther Coon! Kill the (n-word)s!" American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell and longtime U.S. He ended the video with a request for viewers to "please, hold back your judgment.Others were less apologetic. Martin Luther King Jr.," he said, "so fast to the point where I jumbled a couple of words." "Unfortunately I spoke a little too fast when I was referencing Dr. Kappell has apologized and explained himself multiple times this week, most expansively during a four-minute video on Facebook in which he speaks to the camera with his wife by his side. "Anyone who has done live tv and screwed up (google any number of ones I've done) understands," he tweeted. Roker, who is black, said on Twitter on Wednesday that Kappell flubbed a line and should be given the chance to apologize on WHEC. I think made an unfortunate flub and should be given the chance to apologize on Anyone who has done live tv and screwed up (google any number of ones I’ve done) understands.Īn online "I Stand Behind Jeremy Kappell" petition seeking his reinstatement has been started online. ESPN's Mike Greenberg in 2010 reportedly made a similar slip-up pronouncing MLK's name and apologized for slurring his words. Kappel's defenders argue that mortifying bloopers are common on live TV news. Her office did not respond to a request for an interview Wednesday. Warren has since been the target of critics on social media who accuse her of pouncing on the incident too quickly. ![]() Warren argued a larger issue of insufficient cultural sensitivity among the local media was illustrated by the station apologizing only after a backlash on social media. The station fired Kappell on Sunday, the same day Mayor Lovely Warren and city officials in a statement called for Kappell's ouster. Kappell "clearly voiced a racially derogatory term," on Friday night's broadcast, said the statement from Hubbard Television Group President Robert Hubbard and station general manager Richard Reingold. "We believe we have done what is right for our station and our community, and will continue to take a strong stand for our personal and professional values." "Since our decision to terminate his employment, this station has been caught in the middle of a vitriolic political debate," the station and its parent company said in a statement Tuesday night. And online arguments persisted over whether Kappell's slip-up revealed racial malice or just a slip of the tongue on live TV. NBC weatherman and personality Al Roker tweeted in defence of Kappell. Kappell, who is white, explained it was a mispronunciation. Rochester's mayor, who is black, called the words hurtful. That polarizing question has reverberated in this upstate New York city and beyond since WHEC fired Jeremy Kappell after he apparently referred to a park in his weather report as "Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Did a TV meteorologist broadcast a racial slur or simply flub a line? ![]()
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