NBC4 Washington has announced that its nightly anchor, Leon Harris, will be stepping away to focus on his health.
The update comes after Harris, 63, appeared to stumble over his words while giving the Thanksgiving telecast, sparking viewer concern.
“Last week, Leon appeared unwell while anchoring News4 at 6. Leon will be stepping away from the anchor desk to focus on health issues,” the network said in a statement. “We here at NBC4 — and you at home — care deeply about Leon and wish him well. We thank you for your concern.”
While delivering the broadcast on Thursday (November 28), Harris struggled 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.
He was quickly taken off air, with sports journalist A.J. Perez tweeting that the newscast “went to a full weather segment” followed by a “long taped segment.”
“No news has been delivered from the anchor desk in more than 20 mins,” Perez said.
“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?” another viewer wrote.
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.
In 2022, Harris was removed from NBC4 anchoring duties after he was arrested and sentenced to 10 days in jail for crashing while driving under the influence of alcohol. He was later reinstated.
Speaking to his colleague Doreen Gentzler at the time about the accident, Harris said: “In my condition, I could’ve killed someone.
“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, he opened the broadcast confirming to viewers that he was “embracing sobriety” and was working with “very tough professionals to get control of this disease called alcoholism.”
Harris joined NBC4 in 2017 after 21 years anchoring CNN in Atlanta.
