A news anchor was fired in Jackson, Mississippi, after she quoted lyrics from Snoop Dogg during a live broadcast on March 8.
Former WLBT morning show anchor Barbie Bassett lost her job after she quoted the lyrics while talking about the rapper’s new wine, Snoop Cali Blanc, with meteorologist Patrick Ellis and co-anchor Wilson Stribling. The lyric Bassett used contains slang for the N-word.
As the story was wrapping up, Bassett blurted out, “Fo shizzle, my nizzle.” Ellis, who was laughing up until Bassett said the lyric, quickly changed his facial expression. The video was shared on social media and has gone viral with more than one million views.
Twitter users reacted to the video, and one user took note of the meteorologist’s reaction to Bassett’s comment.
“The way dude’s face went from laugh to shock (you can tell by the cheeks). He knew she had messed up.”
One user thought the anchor had no idea what she was saying and was just being enthusiastic about Snoop. “She had no clue what she was saying,” he wrote. “She shouldn’t have been fired. My man on the end tho is the real star.”
Another user replied, “That ww said fo shizzle my nizzle and her badge buzzed when she tried to clock in the next day.”
According to the Clarion Ledger, it appears Bassett has been terminated, as she has not been on the air since March 8. She has also removed mentions of WLBT from her social media.
Bassett has found herself in hot water before over racist comments. The former news anchor apologized after referring to Black reporter Carmen Poe’s grandmother as her “grandmammy” during a live broadcast last October. Bassett apologized for her comment and promised to participate in training to “better understand our history and our people.”
“Last Friday on our newscast ‘Today at 11’, I used a term that was offensive to many in our audience and to my coworkers here at WLBT. Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe. Now, I would like to apologize to you,” she said. “That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended.”
Bassett continued, “I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people. I can’t mend the hurt my comment caused. I pray you’ll forgive me and that you’ll extend grace through this awful mistake.”
In response to questions about Bassett’s employment, WLBT’s general manager Ted Fortenberry said the station could not comment on “personnel matters.”
