Oklahoma City news anchor apologizes for saying black co-anchor looked like a gorilla

An Oklahoma City morning news anchor delivered a tearful apology to her black co-anchor after she said in a previous segment that he looked like a gorilla.

Alex Housden of KOCO 5’s morning news said on air Friday that she wanted to apologize not only to Jason Hackett, her colleague, but also to the community, according to a video of the segment.

“I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate, it was inappropriate, and I hurt people,” she said while crying.

“And I want you to know I understand how much I hurt you out there and how much I hurt you,” she said while turning to Hackett.

Housden was referring to a segment from Thursday about an ape caretaker who took over the social media for the Oklahoma City Zoo. While showing video of what appeared to be a baby gorilla, Housden told Hackett the animal “kind of looks like you.”

“I want you all to know from the bottom of my heart, I apologize for what I said. I know it was wrong and I am so sorry,” Housden told viewers on Tuesday.

“I do accept your apology and I do appreciate your apology,” Hackett responded.

The segment then turned to Hackett, who made it clear that he considered Housden a good friend, but that the words “cut deep for me” and he knew many in the audience who responded to the zoo segment felt the same way.

“I want this to be a teachable moment and the lesson here is that words, words matter,” Hackett said. “There’s no doubt about that.”

Hackett went on to say that the country’s demographics are changing and there was no excuse not to be aware of the kind of comments that can be hurtful to minorities.

“We have to understand the stereotypes, we have to understand each other’s background and the words that hurt,” he said. “The words that cut deep. And we have to find a way to replace those words with love and words of affirmation as well.”

Despite Hackett’s acceptance of the apology and wish to turn the moment into a positive, some on social media were still outraged by the comment and urged the station to fire Housden.

In a statement to NBC News, KOCO 5 said it would not be commenting on the matter further.

“The apology by Alex and Jason’s acceptance and his comments about the broader issue are the only public comment necessary,” the station said.

source: nbcnews.com