TV Anchor Cries And Apologizes For Comparing Black Co-Host To A Gorilla
Alex Housden a TV anchor for KOCO 5 News, compared her black co-host to a gorilla when she was ending a segment about a gorilla at the Oklahoma City Zoo.
While ending the segment, Alex called out Jason Hackett, her co-anchor, and said: “Kinda looks like you.”
Jason Hackett, the black co-host of Alex, responded with “He kind of does actually, yeah”.
After the live segment ended, a video of the comparing was shared on Facebook, which went viral right away.
Here is the full video of the White TV Anchor Comparing Black Co-Host To A Gorilla:
When Alex Housden KOCO thinks her co anchor Jason Hackett KOCO resembles an animal…
Posted by Joy Shana on Thursday, 22 August 2019
A day after the incident, Alex Housden made an emotional live apology to her co-host and admitted that it was inconsiderate and inappropriate for her to compare him to a gorilla.
During the live, Alex said, “I’m here this morning because I want to apologise; not only to my co-anchor Jason, but to our entire community. I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate, it was inappropriate, and I hurt people. I want you to know I understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt [Hackett]. I want you all to know from the bottom of my heart I apologize for what I said… I know it was wrong, and I am so sorry.”
Jason Hackett, the black co-host, accepted the public apology of Alex Housden and said that he appreciated her apology.
Jason said that the 2 are pretty good friends outside the job and talk with each other every other day.
Jason then talked about the incident and said that the words of Alex Housden cut deep for him and the people in the community. He then called her words wrong.
Jason said that the incident should be a lesson for everyone. The anchor added that words matter and they could cut deep.
He said that America is become a more diverse country and added that people in America needs to understand the stereotypes.
He added, “We have to understand each other’s backgrounds and the words that hurt, the words that cut deep. We have to find a way to replace those words with love and words of affirmation as well.”
Jason then said that just like a plumber uses a wrench or a doctor would use a scalpel, words should be used to build a better and stronger union.
He added that words should not be used to hurt anyone or divide.