A news anchor from Oklahoma City has issued an apology to her black co-host on Friday after she compared him to a gorilla during a segment last week.
Alex Housden, morning anchor for KOCO-TV made the comparison with her co-anchor, Jason Hackett as they pair spoke about a young gorilla at the Oklahoma City Zoo on Thursday.
Housden told Hackett that the animal “kind of looks like you” to which he responded, “he kind of does, actually yeah.”
The video of the exchange soon went viral, causing outrage amongst those who watched it.
She then apologised on Friday to “one of my best friends for the past year and a half.”
“I’m here this morning because I want to apologise, not only to my co-worker Jason, but to our entire community,” she said. “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 all out there and how much I hurt you. I would never do anything on purpose to hurt you,” she said as she turned to Hackett.
Housden then emphasised on the love she has for the community and said her apology is coming straight from the heart.
Hackett then accepted his co-host’s apology and reiterated that the two shared a fantastic bond.
“What she said yesterday was wrong,” he said. “It cut deep for me and a lot of you in the community.”
He continued: “The lesson here is that words matter. We are becoming a more diverse country and there Is no excuse. We have to understand the stereotypes, 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.”
