A meteorologist from a Mississippi TV station has been absent from screens in the US state since she quoted Snoop Dogg live on air earlier this month.
Meteorologist and news anchor Barbie Bassett has not been seen on air for the NBC affiliate WLBT since 8 March, according to Deadline (as reported by The Independent). The website claims that during her last appearance on the channel’s morning show Bassett caused controversy while she and other team members were discussing Snoop Dogg.
Joining in a chat about Snoop’s line of wines, Bassett is reported as quoting the rapper, saying: “Fo shizzle, my nizzle.” The reference came up when the idea of a collaboration between the ‘Doggyland’ rapper and a newsroom journalist was raised – see the tweet below for a video clip of the incident from Huffpost’s Philip Lewis.
Longtime Mississippi news anchor appears to no longer be employed with the news team after saying, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle" on airhttps://t.co/O5tFTsac1g pic.twitter.com/hs01IyVQaL
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 24, 2023
“Nizzle” is commonly cited as slang for the N-word.
This was not the first time that Bassett has caused controversy either, according to reports. It’s claimed that in October last year, she apologised after she referred to a Black reporter’s “grandmammy” on air.
Her absence from the programme since the Wednesday, March 8 incident has allegedly prompted viewers to believe she has been fired from her role.
Bassett’s Twitter account has also been absent since that date. Indeed, the meteorologist was notably absent from any social media discussions about the tornado, which hit Mississippi last weekend causing wide-spread devastation.
In addition to this, Bassett is no longer listed on the station’s website – according to the newspaper, The Clarion Ledger. The newspaper states: “Bassett did not respond to direct messages on Twitter, Facebook and her personal website.”
The New York Post quotes the station’s regional vice president Ted Fortenberry as saying: “As I am sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters.”
Basset has not responded publicly to the incident yet.