A weather reporter who was asked to “cover up” and don a cardigan over her sparkly dress for broadcast has stood by the joke after the clip amassed social media rage at her colleague’s audacity.
While presenting the morning weather for American station KTLA, meterologist Liberte Chan was wearing a black beaded dress. Throughout her broadcast her male colleague appeared on the side of the screen holding a grey cardigan.
Apparently the station had had emailed complaints about the dress, saying it was inappropriate. He asked her to cover up.
Wow! Male @KTLA anchor humiliates meteorologist, forces her to cover her dress: “We’re getting a lot of emails” pic.twitter.com/xU7hbCiwer
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) May 15, 2016
Social media went bonkers, claiming Chan was humiliated on TV and calling out news anchor Chris Burrous for being “tasteless” and sexist.
Burrous attempted to diffuse the situation on social media saying it was a joke. But Twitter wasn’t having a bar of it. And now Chan herself has penned some thoughts on the situation.
“For the record, I was not ordered by KTLA to put on the sweater,” she wrote on her personal blog.
“I was simply playing along with my co-anchor’s joke, and if you’ve ever watched the morning show, you know we poke fun at each other all the time.
“And, also for the record, there is no controversy at KTLA. My bosses did not order me to put on the cardigan, it was a spontaneous moment.
“I truly love my job, I like my bosses and enjoy working with my coworkers. Since talking to my team, I want our viewers to know it was never our intention to offend anyone. We are friends on and off the air and if you watch our newscast, you know that.”
Having had a decade on-air, she’s developed a thick skin. “It’s a visual medium and sometimes your outfit works and sometimes it doesn’t.” She thanked viewers for their support though.
Still, Chan said the most important thing was that viewers knew what the weather was doing that day and planned their attire and activities accordingly.
