News anchor remains on TV after using same slur as fired former Kentucky meteorologist

A St. Louis anchor apologized and kept his job after unintentionally using the same racial slur on air that cost a former Kentucky meteorologist his job earlier this month.

During a Thursday morning broadcast on FOX-KTVI Channel 2, Kevin Steincross said an upcoming event would honor “Martin Luther Coon Jr.,” according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Steincross apologized during a broadcast later that morning.

“I want to take a moment to apologize,” he said. “We have heard from a viewer about a mistake I made in our 5 a.m. newscast. In our story about the tribute to Dr. King, I, unfortunately, mispronounced his name. Please know I have total respect for Dr. King, what he means and what he continues to mean to our country. This was not intentional in any way, and I sincerely apologize.”

According to the Associated Press, Steincross was not disciplined by his station.

On Jan. 4, Jeremy Kappell of NBC-WHEC in Rochester appeared to say “Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park” during a segment on air. He claimed on Twitter he misspoke but was fired a few days later after several high-profile community members called for his termination.

After he was fired, Kappell, a former meteorologist at WDRB and WHAS in Louisville, apologized in a Facebook post.

“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 news personalities, including CNN’s Don Lemon and NBC’s Al Roker, have stuck up for the former Kentucky meteorologist, but Kappell has not been reinstated.

Steincross spoke with managers and management believed the phrase he uttered was inadvertent and not reflective of his core beliefs, according to the Associated Press.

“Kevin is extremely upset by the mistake and regrets it deeply,” a Tribune Broadcasting spokesperson told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The St. Louis County NAACP said in a social media post that the incident was “unacceptable and very disappointing.”

The same racial slur was inadvertently uttered by ESPN’s Mike Greenberg in 2010. Greenberg was also allowed to keep his job and issue an on-air apology.

This story was originally published January 18, 2019 at 9:53 AM.