A Mississippi morning news anchor appears to be out of a job after saying a popular Snoop Dogg phrase on air earlier this month.
Barbie Bassett has not returned to the anchor desk at NBC affiliate WLBT since the March 8 broadcast and is no longer listed as a member of the news team on the station’s website, the Clarion Ledger reports.
“As I am sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters,” Ted Fortenberry, the station’s regional vice president and general manager, told The Post in an emailed statement Saturday.
The gaffe was made during a discussion about Snoop Dogg’s latest addition to his Cali wine line.
Bassett said, “Fo shizzle, my nizzle,” when the idea of a Snoop collaboration with a newsroom journalist was raised.
“Nizzle” is slang for the N-word. Bassett, who is white, also tweeted the phrase in 2011.
This is not the first time Bassett, who boasts being the first chief meteorologist in WLBT’s history, has landed in hot water for her comments.
The Mississippi native apologized in October 2022 after referencing a black reporter’s “grandmammy” on air.
“Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe,” Bassett said about 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.”
She 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.”
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