Want the Full Article? Taylor Pence . (501) 324-7760. According to the Arkansas Times, KATV local news anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt attempted to do a play-on-words by wearing Afro-like wigs during a segment to comment on Little Rock's return to temperatures in the 70s.. Sinclair executives had meetings with African Americans to apologize and promise to be more sensitive. The news director for KATV, Channel 7, has been fired, Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed Friday. Yup, Will Ferrell you too are about to be cancelled. Chris May has been suspended along with meteorologist Barry Brandt for wearing afro wigs in an on-air segment to celebrate the end of a heatwave as temperatures plummeted into the 1970s. " KATV-TV, Channel 7, News Director Nick Genty has been fired by Sinclair Broadcast Group amid outrage from the National Association of Black Journalists over a pattern of behavior in the ABC affiliate's newsroom, " Kyle Massey reported Friday for Arkansas Business. Little Rock's KATV has suspended two news anchors and fired their boss after a 'Return to the 70s" weather segment drew complaints from viewers who were offended by their wigs. After nearly a decade with the Little. The doll was followed by the main anchor wearing an afro wig to . News Director Fired After Wearing Afro Wig. The news director for KATV, Channel 7, has been fired, Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed Friday. by Kyle Massey. Sinclair Group Manager John Seabers said Nick Genty was suspended Sept. 17, but Seabers declined to. "I want to take a moment to apologize and be accountable for a terrible decision I made. Josh Elliot was abruptly fired by CBS News on Monday and escorted out of the building by security. The station that the two white men work for, KATV, quickly suspended them both and fired their boss, for wearing the African American-style hairpieces during the evening weather report. A KATV anchor wears an afro wig on air Photo by @kennabjvpbcast / Twitter Heat waged a summer-long siege against Little Rock with average high temperatures topping 90 degrees in July. (Screenshot via KATV) Anchors on Arkansas TV station KATV who decided to celebrate cooler temperatures by wearing Afro wigs have been suspended after sparking online backlash. To celebrate temperatures dipping into the 70s after a sweltering weekslong heatwave, Arkansas' KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt wore Afro wigs and viewer reception was chilly. The aforementioned journalists for KATV caught themselves getting suspended after rocking synthetic Afro wigs during an on-air segment in September. A white news anchor and a white meteorologist have been suspended indefinitely for wearing so-called afro wigs on the air and their news director was permanently fired. September 24, 2021 / Scott Jones Word is that Sinclair's KATV (Little Rock) has parted ways with longtime News Director Nick Genty. (WASHINGTON D.C., 9/24/2021) - The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today welcomed the firing of a news director at a Little Rock, Ark., ABC affiliate station after several racist incidents. News director Nick Genty (bottom right) has been fired (Screenshot) The firing came after an anchor and a meteorologist at KATV appeared on the air wearing what appeared to be afro wigs in . October 4, 2021 4:52pm Updated KATV anchor Chris May was suspended after wearing an Afro wig on air. Understanding the severity of the situation, we have taken swift action to address it. Meteorologist Barry Brandt and News Anchor Chris May both wore the wigs during the newscast and were later suspended by the station, according to insiders. Anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt wore Afro-style wigs on the air as part of a 'return to the 70s' segment. KATV is based in Little Rock, Arkansas, where a . Courtney, who spent years in the anchor chair at KTHV before departing for KATV in March 2011, said on Facebook that she's leaving TV news to focus on family, particularly her girls' budding acting careers. For background reference, anchor Chris May and . Two white TV reporters were suspended after wearing Afro-like wigs in a '70s-themed segments. KATV removes news director following wig controversy and complaints from Black journalists By Max Brantley On September 24, 2021 9:37 am Nick Genty, news director at KATV-Channel 7 since February. KUTV CBS 2 provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, notices of events and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for . A husband and wife who both worked on-air at KARK-TV in Little Rock, Ark., were fired this week, along with two other station employees, after two videos they made and posted on YouTube became the . "Swift action was important to hold the responsible parties accountable," a spokesperson told AdWeek. 0. Melinda Mayo is an American Meteorologist/Host currently working for KATV since joining the station in the month of February, the year 1996. According to KATV, "We apologize to all viewers who were . Well, everywhere except this blog. He apparently was fired. This comes just a couple of days after FTVLive FIRST reported in a Patron Only story that Anchor Chris May and Weatherman Barry Brandt were suspended after wearing afro wigs during the newscast. Two white television reporters in Little Rock, Ark., were suspended after they wore Afro wigs during an on-air broadcast in September.KATV's news director, Nick Genty was also fired. A group of news anchors in Arkansas celebrated the cooling weather with a "Return to the '70s" themed segment that included the wearing of afro wigs. 8:00 AM. By Jason Lynch on Oct. 7, 2021 - 1:45 PM Several weeks after they were suspended for wearing Afro-like wigs on-airangering the Black community KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt. Both anchors were clearly tired of their alarm clocks. | An Arkansas KATV news anchors Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt decided to celebrate the summer heat breaking and the return of seventy-degree temperatures by appearing on-air in Afro-hairstyle wigs as a "return to the 70s" schtick. Mar 14, 2022. News Director Fired, Anchors Suspended After Wearing THIS, Can You See Why? Local television station KATV decided to celebrate with wordplay in a "return to the 70s" segment in which on-air personalities sported looks popular in the 1970s. Following the outcry, Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns the TV station, apologized for the "poor judgment" that resulted in the broadcast. An on-air stunt intended to celebrate a return to temperatures in the 70s led to the suspension of two people and the firing of another at KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas. 2 White Reporters Suspended After They Wear Afro Wigs On Live Television The KATV news director was also fired following the incident. News director Nick Genty was fired as a result, but the suspended anchor returned to the air Wednesday night. "It was just bad judgment . LAWSUIT ROUTE: Karen Fuller, a popular former anchor at Little Rock's KATV, Channel 7, is used to delivering the news. KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt (left and top right) wore afro wigs on air, and are now suspended. Courtney even led her news with it. According to the Washington Post, on September 16th, they were suspended for wearing wigs during their 10 p.m. newscasts. During these events . Two white television reporters in Little Rock, Ark., were suspended after they wore Afro wigs during an on-air broadcast in September. Sinclair Broadcast group has suspended Chris May and Brian Brandt indefinitely and fired their news director Nick Genty after an activist complaint said the wigs . KATV's news director, Nick Genty was also fired. "KATV-7 apologies (sic) for the poor judgement (sic) of some members of our news team. Little Rock's KATV has suspended two news anchors and fired their boss after a 'Return to the 70s" weather segment drew complaints from viewers who were offended by their wigs. TV executives fired the station's news director, Nick Genty, and indefinitely suspended Chris May and Barry Brandt, the anchor and meteorologist who wore the wigs. The two faced backlash from local activists for . Two local news anchors in Arkansas were suspended from work last month for wearing afro wigs as a joke on the air. ". Little Rock news anchors suspended: boss fired over "wig incident". Nick Genty, news director at KATV-Channel 7 since February 2011, is no longer employed at the station. This subreddit is intended to serve as a centralized communications hub for the As of 2022, she is around 40 years old. UPDATE: May and Brandt Return After KATV News Director's Firing in Race-Related Furor. Apparently that is considered 'racist'. Two white television anchors were suspended after wearing afro-like wigs for a 1970s-themed segment last month, the Arkansas Times reported.. Chris May, a local reporter from KATV news, and Barry Brandt, a meteorologist, wore wigs in a segment that announced that a cold front was making its way to Little Rock, Arkansas, which brought the city's regular high summer temperatures to the 70 . To celebrate temperatures dropping into the 70s, KATV Little Rock Anchor anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt donned Afro wigs in what they called a "return to the 70s". Apparently this was some of that cultural appropriation and system racism we've been hearing so much about. To celebrate temperatures dipping into the 70s after a sweltering weeks-long heatwave, Arkansas' KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt wore afro wigs and viewer reception was chilly. Introduction : Kayna is a news correspondent who is often thrown. News Director: Jerry Giesler "News director is only there to collect a paycheck." While working for WJFW this person experienced: Sexual Harassment, Sexual Discrimination, An Overall Toxic Work Environment "Inappropriate employee behavior and comments were common here." This person describes the overall newsroom environment as: The news director, Nick Genty, was fired. In a statement to the Arkansas Times, Seabers said: "KATV-7 apologies (sic) for the poor judgement (sic) of some members of our news team. Two white news reporters in Arkansas are on suspension after they pulled an Afro wig stunt on air last month.. FTVLive was the FIRST to tell you in a Patron Only story t hat KATV (Little Rock) has suspended two of the station's Anchors after they wore afro wigs on the air. Kayna Whitworth July 4, 1982. KATV anchor Chris May was suspended after wearing an Afro wig on air. Their segment, dubbed 'return to the 70s' - where on-air personalities sported looks popular in the 1970s - was intended as a way to celebrate . Understanding the severity of the situation, we have taken swift action to address it," Seabers said in a statement to the Arkansas Times. Madeleine Weast February 13, 2017 5:32 pm. To celebrate temperatures dipping into the 70s after a sweltering weekslong heatwave, Arkansas'. Billy Jack Sams (born March 19, 1935) was an anchor for "Today's THV This Morning", now called "THV 11 News This Morning", the morning news show for KTHV-TV, the local CBS -affiliated television . KTHV 21 years 2 months Executive Producer . Before that, He was a weather forecaster at WRCB-TV in Chattanooga, TN. According to the Washington Post, the news anchors from KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, came up with the idea to show that the temperatures were dropping to the 70s after several days of extreme heat. KATV ABC 7 in Little Rock, Arkansas covers news, sports, weather and the local community in the city and the surrounding area, including Hot Springs, Conway, Pine . Little Rock news anchors suspended: boss fired over "wig incident". She called the wigs "Afro wigs." She said it was a perpetuation of "systemic racism" to have a "European American man" wear an. William Thomas Cain/Getty Sinclair Broadcasting executives apologized after anchors at one of its stations in Arkansas wore afro wigs during a newscast last week to invoke "the 70s." KATV anchor. After nearly a decade with the Little . Get Unlimited Archive Access for $19.95 per Year . Kayna Whitworth Age, How old ABC News Wiki Biography, Married. Both news anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt are white, so their use of afro-style wigs was considered overtly racist. For background reference, anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt called themselves "celebrating" the temperature drop in Arkansas following an expected heat stroke in response to . Read More . "It was just bad judgment," John Seabers, a Sinclair vice president and group manager, told the news outlet. The Little Rock-based station quickly suspended the two white news anchors, and canned their boss, after the . The news director for KATV, Channel 7, has been fired, Sinclair Broadcast Group confirmed Friday. . Main anchor . The station suspended May and Brandt. " To celebrate temperatures dipping into the 70s after a sweltering weekslong heatwave, Arkansas' KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt wore Afro wigs and viewer reception was chilly. KATV anchor Chris May and meteorologist Barry Brandt appeared on Channel 7 last night for the first time since the "wig incident" on Sept. 16. . The KATV employees wore the wigs in a gag that the city's temperatures were cooling down to the '70s. 85 votes, 70 comments. The Little Rock-based station quickly suspended the two white .