A bizarre incident took place during a live news broadcast on Los Angeles TV station KTLA on Saturday morning, when the on-air meteorologist was handed a sweater to put on. Not because of a stunt to demonstrate a sudden cold snap, not because she had developed a sudden chill. It was because they wanted her to cover up the “revealing” dress she was wearing.
According to Uproxx, KTLA meteorologist Liberté Chan likes to spend some time selecting the clothing for her on-air appearances. On May 14, she chose a sparkly black dress, and showed off her choice on Twitter.
Even if it’s early in the AM, can’t beat a black beaded dress @KTLAMorningNews @AidanMattox @PistolandStamen pic.twitter.com/HYy1KUMYH1
— Liberté Chan (@libertechan) May 14, 2016
There was nothing risqué or revealing about the dress — it looked like the type of dress you might see a woman wearing on a dinner date, or while out dancing in a club. But apparently it was too much for some KTLA viewers early on a Saturday, and the station reportedly received a number of emailed complaints.
Those complaints led to a rather awkward moment, when a sweater appears, dangled by an unidentified hand at the right of the screen. “What’s going on?” Chan asks when she sees the sweater. “You want me to put this on?”
“We got a lot of emails,” a voice says.
It was an incredible moment, handled with grace by Chan, who observed that she was sporting a “librarian” look. And of course, she fielded complaints about that remark.
Apologies! Didn’t mean to offend https://t.co/AtA3x7R2Kx
— Liberté Chan (@libertechan) May 14, 2016
It’s not clear what amount of emails was considered “a lot” by the station, but some took to Twitter to express their outrage over how the incident was handled.
Whoa. @KTLA! I didn’t like the dress either, but you didn’t have to make her cover up - ON AIR - like that. How embarrassing.
— Heather Poole (@Heather_Poole) May 14, 2016
@Heather_Poole meanwhile, men all over the media get away with tacky suites & ties to no one’s particular notice. This only happens to women
— Troy Hanthony (@boitoitroi) May 14, 2016
Heather Poole is right. Maybe the dress wasn’t the best choice of fashion for a Saturday morning broadcast. But to address the issue while she was on camera, especially considering that a meteorologist is on-air for three or four minutes at most? Amazing.
Now that she has been embarrassed over this ridiculous matter, Chan appeared on camera on Sunday wearing a dress that should meet with the approval of the slut shamers.
SoCal Forecast: Overcast conditions this morning with sunshine this afternoon, @libertechan reports https://t.co/iMlqB3Jvcz
— KTLA (@KTLA) May 15, 2016
As one Twitter user observed, “If only people cared this much about real issues.”
Here’s the embarrassing moment, via Facebook:
And here is another video that Chan posted, as she and some of her colleagues share examples of the emails the station received:
Featured image via Facebook screen capture
