Los Angeles anchorman is out of a job following an on-air, emotional farewell to colleague
A Los Angeles television station parted with a popular anchorman after he went on air to criticize management's handling of a colleague's departure, officials
A Los Angeles television station parted with a popular anchorman after he went on air to criticize management's handling of a colleague's departure, officials said Friday.
Mark Mester will not be in the anchor chair when KTLA's "Weekend Morning News" airs on Saturday, one week after he appeared to go off-script to rip the station for not staging a more grand goodbye to his longtime co-anchor Lynette Romero.
"Mark Mester is no longer employed by KTLA," according to a statement Friday by Irving, Texas-based Nexstar Media Group Inc., which owns CW affiliate Channel 5 in Southern California. "As this is a personnel matter, we will decline further comment."
This past Saturday, Mester seemed to choke back tears in telling viewers that the station should be ashamed of itself for not giving Romero a celebrated sendoff.
"I want to start off right now by offering up an apology to you. What the viewers experienced was rude, it was cruel, it was inappropriate and we are so sorry," Mester told viewers in an emotional nearly four-minute testament to his former co-worker. "I also want to say sorry to Lynette Romero. I love you so much, you literally are my best friend. You did not deserve what happened to you on Wednesday."
Rating: 5