A Mississippi news anchor has reportedly been taken off air after quoting a Snoop Dogg lyric during a broadcast earlier this month.
According to the New York Post, Barbie Bassett, a longtime anchor for NBC affiliate WLBT, hasn’t returned to the desk since the March 8 broadcast where the news team covered Snoop’s newest addition to his wine line.
While toying with the idea of the rapper collaborating with a newsroom journalist, Bassett, who is white, said “Fo shizzle, my nizzle.”
“Nizzle” is slang for the N-word.
In response to the incident, Ted Fortenberry, the station’s regional vice president and general manager, told The Post on Saturday (March 25) that “WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters.”
This isn’t the first time Bassett has landed in controversy for her on-air comments. In October, Bassett issued an apology for referencing a Black reporter’s “grandmammy” during a broadcast.
“Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe,” Bassett said of her colleague. “Now, I would like to apologize to you. 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.”
“I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people,” she continued. “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.”
After the latest incident, Bassett is no longer listed as a member of WLBT’s news team on the station’s website, per the Clarion Ledger.
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