Local NBC4 Washington news anchor Leon Harris, who delivers the network’s nightly broadcast at 4 p.m. and 5 p.m., sparked concern among viewers after he appeared to stumble over his words during Thursday (November 28) night’s telecast.
In a clip of the moment shared on X/Twitter, Harris, 63, can be seen struggling to speak fluently while discussing a water main break that occurred in the D.C. area, as well as the recent arrest of four suspects accused of vandalizing the American Israel Public Affairs Committee building.
“NBC check on Leon Harris!” voice actor Lee Sanders viewer wrote alongside the video.
Another concerned viewer commented: “What’s going on Newschannel 4 6 PM news cast. The anchor is having a rough time delivering the news. I hope he is okay?”
“NBC 4’s 6 pm newscast went to a full weather segment and is now airing a long taped segment after anchor Leon Harris struggled to deliver the news at the top of the hour,” sports journalist A.J. Perez noted, adding that “no news has been delivered from the anchor desk in more than 20 mins.”
Meteorologist Ryan Miller told viewers during the broadcast that NBC 4 had received “a lot” of worried messages inquiring about Harris’s wellbeing.
“We want to assure you that our colleague Leon Harris is fine,” Miller said.
The Independent has reached out to NBC4 for comment.
Harris joined NBC4 in 2017 after 21 years anchoring CNN in Atlanta.
In 2022, he was arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail after he crashed while driving under the influence of alcohol. Harris was removed from NBC4 anchoring duties at the time before later being reinstated.
NBC check on Leon Harris! @nbcwashington check your guy! Pray he hasn’t relapsed again or dealing w/ addiction off of that foot injury. Pull him & get him some help! He looks unkept & struggles to read. I know the signs folks, he is dealing w/ sum form of alcohol/substance abuse pic.twitter.com/VPDfKe3fzW
— Lee Sanders (@TheRCWRShow) November 28, 2024
“In my condition, I could’ve killed someone,” he told colleague Doreen Gentzler in an interview about the incident.
“I was actually more impaired than I thought I was. I thought that after having about four glasses of wine, I thought I was good. I wasn’t! Nobody’s gonna be good after that. But because I had been doing it before, and I had gotten away with it before, and my body had gotten to the point of not processing like it did when I was 25, like it did when I was 35, I was in much worse shape than I though. And I know that now.”
Following his return to NBC4, he opened the broadcast telling viewers: “Many of you know that I made a terrible mistake one night in January.
“After drinking, I decided to get into my car and drive. This is the worst decision I could possibly have made.”
He confirmed that he was “embracing sobriety” and was working with “very tough professionals to get control of this disease called alcoholism.”
