Former Kentucky meteorologist fights allegation that he made racial slur on air

A TV meteorologist with Kentucky ties has been fired after viewers claimed he used a racial slur on air, but the Emmy Award-winning broadcaster said he did not use the word.

A segment Friday for WHEC in Rochester showed the city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park, and Jeremy Kappell appeared to refer to it as “Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park.”

Monday night, Kappell published a video on Facebook and claimed he spoke too fast when referencing King Jr.

“I know some people did interpret that the wrong way,” he said in the four-minute video. “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. I would never want to tarnish the reputation of such a great man as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the great civic leaders of all time.”

Many viewers, including Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and City Council President Loretta Scott, called for Kappell’s termination. In a joint statement, Warren and Scott said it was “wrong, hurtful and infuriating” for the station to broadcast the racial slur.

“It is beyond unacceptable that this has occurred. 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,” the city’s leaders said in a statement Sunday.

The Rochester Association of Black Journalists also released a statement condemning the language allegedly used.

“This is completely unacceptable and contrary to all standards of broadcasting. While we are aware that the station has issued an apology, we expect a complete explanation of what happened, who was responsible and why nothing was said immediately after the Friday broadcast,” it stated. “We also want to know what measures will be taken to prevent incidents like this from occurring in the future.”

Kappell, who worked as a meteorologist at WDRB in Louisville from 2011 to 2017, was terminated Monday. In addition to WDRB, he worked in Texas, Mississippi, Kansas and WHAS in Louisville, according to his Linkedin account.

News10NBC Vice President and General Manager Richard Reingold released a statement Monday announcing Kappell was no longer with the station.

“We believe strongly in holding our reporters and anchors to the highest standard,” Reingold stated. “We are proud of our dedicated newsroom professionals, and expect and require that each respects and understands their behavior reflects directly on the station for which they work and the community we serve.

“These words have no place on News10NBC’s air, and the fact that we broadcast them disheartens and disgusts me; that it was not caught immediately is inexcusable,” he continued. “I regret that we did not immediately interrupt our broadcast and apologize on the spot.”

In a series of tweets Monday and early Tuesday, Kappell told his followers he’s “never uttered those words” in his life and called it “an atrocity” he was terminated. He also thanked those who had his support, many of whom also felt Kappell got tongue-tied during the broadcast.

In his video that was posted following his termination, he said was disappointed at the decisions made by the station. “who I expected a certain level of support from and I did not receive at all.”

Thousands have signed a petition on Change.org to get Kappell back on air with WHEC.

“This is a good man who had no malice, no intent, no wrong doing,” the petition states. “This was an honest slip of the tongue that could happen to anyone. We are all human, we are not perfect. Is destroying the man’s career and slandering him in the press a deserved action?”

While working for WDRB, Kappell was awarded Best Weather Anchor in 2016 by the Kentucky Associated Press. A year earlier, he won an Emmy award for a documentary series on a 1974 tornado.

Kappell has taken to social media to do damage control. He said the “exact same flub” he had Friday was used by ESPN’s Mike Greenberg in 2010. Greenberg was allowed to keep his job and issue an on-air apology.

This story was originally published January 8, 2019 at 8:29 AM.