Radio Studio (Photo iStock)
A Los Angeles news anchor has been fired after criticizing his station on air for how it handled the sudden departure of his former co-worker, the New York Post reports.
KTLA’s Mark Mester was suspended and then fired after he made his surprise, off-script comments to the editor. In the review, he claimed that former former colleague Lynette Romero – she was not given a chance to say goodbye on the air, some TV workers, the station told the Los Angeles Times.
The station manager reportedly told newsroom staff about the end of the speech during a brief speech on Thursday. The firing comes after Mester said goodbye to his “good friend” Romero in a segment where he said it was “unfortunate” how the station didn’t let him “say goodbye properly.”
“I want to start right now by apologizing to you,” Mester told the viewers on Saturday. “What viewers experienced was rude, it was cruel, it was inappropriate and we are so sorry.
“I also want to say sorry to Lynette Romero because Lynette, I love you so much, you really are my best friend. You didn’t deserve what happened to you.”
Mester also mentioned during the monologue that a plane flew over the station with a message of gratitude to Romero. According to the LA Times, the plane was chartered by a master with a banner that read: “We love you Lynette.”
The presenter is fired. Photo: Instagram @field meser
Mester wanted to include the plane footage in a compilation of photos and videos the station played during the farewell, the newspaper reported.
More in-
Producers wrote a script for Mester to read about Romero, staffers told the LA Times, but instead, the anchor freaked out and said he was dismayed that Romero wasn’t given air time to tell the audience she was leaving.
“We’re going to offer you respect and grace, and that’s what this station should have done from the beginning,” Mester said in apparent defiance.
“You didn’t deserve this, we’re sorry, it was a mistake and we just hope you can find the heart to forgive us,” Mester added.
Romero, a fixture at the station for 24 years, left for another station after unsuccessfully asking her bosses if she could work the weekday anchor shift instead of weekends, the LA Times reported.
“I will always be grateful for the love and affection LA viewers have given me,” Romero tweeted last week. “Keep following my friends, I’ll be right back.”
Mester was troubled by KTLA’s original salute to Romero on Sept. 14, when reporter Sam Rubin said Romero “decided to continue anchoring our weekend morning news.”
“We really wanted her to stay, and KTLA management worked hard to make that happen,” Rubin said, according to the LA Times. “Lynette decided to leave for another chance.
“We hoped she would write a farewell message to viewers, but she declined. Lynette was a wonderful member of the KTLA family and we wish her and her family the best of luck.”
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