Meteorologist Jeremy Kappell Fired For Uttering Racial Slur While On The Air

Jeremy Kappell, an award-winning meteorologist, was fired on Sunday after he uttered a racial slur while on the air.

While discussing the weather Friday evening on WHEC-TV, Kappell brought attention to a Rochester park named after the late Martin Luther King Jr., calling it “Martin Luther Coon Park.” After realizing his mistake, he immediately says “King” and verbally accentuates it.

On Monday, the weatherman took to his professional Facebook account to share his explanation:

“What happened on Friday, to me, it’s a simple misunderstanding,” Kappell said. “If you watch me regularly you know that I tend to contain a lot of information in my weather cast, which forces me to speak fast and unfortunately I spoke a little too fast when I was referencing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. So fast to the point where I jumbled a couple of words. In my mind I knew I mispronounced, but there was no malice. I had no idea the way it came across to many people.”

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Continuing, Kappell said he recognized his mistake as he said it, taking care to place an emphasis on “King” and move on. “I had no idea what some people could have interpreted that as and I know some people did interpret that the wrong way. That was not a word I said, I promise you that. If you did feel that it hurt you in any way, I sincerely apologize.”

Kappell’s slip-up nevertheless spread across social media, spurring Rochester Mayor Lovely  Warren and the city council to issue a statement. In it, they denounced Kappell’s “beyond unacceptable” comment, adding that “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.”

Rochester’s mayor and city council have both criticized the network for taking two days to respond to the controversy, arguing it only did so because of the outcry on social media. Kappell, meanwhile, shared a Change.org petition on his personal Facebook, which has the goal of restoring his position at WHEC.