The Weather Channel has apologised after it landed in hot water for broadcasting an offensive racial slur in the middle of a weather report.
The channel’s Local on the 8s broadcast caused a storm after a racial slur was displayed in one of its forecast graphics.
“Hello Des Moines, This is your weather my N******,” read a graphic displayed on the Des Moines-based channel’s segment.
The incident occurred last Thursday but became viral after it was flagged by journalist Matthew Keys.
In a public statement, the Weather Channel apologised to viewers, and said the presentation “did not originate” with them. They promised an investigation.
“A graphic during The Weather Channel cable network’s ‘Local on the 8s’ presentation in Des Moines last evening included a racial slur,” the statement read.
“We removed this graphic as soon as we learned of it. This did not originate with us, and we are in the process of investigating it further. We apologise to our viewers.”
Sharing the graphic, Mr Keys said: “I’ve blurred it, but I’m pretty sure you can figure out what it said.”
He later said that it likely “originated at the cable head-end, according to a source, though the network is still trying to figure it out”.
The incident prompted a backlash on social media with some saying it was hard to believe it was a mistake.
“This came from the cable provider. TWC has computer units at cable headends to produce the local on the 8s, and a rogue cable employee must’ve messed with the files and caused it to say that,” a Twitter user named Marissa said.
“The weather channel out here using the N word. How do they ALWAYS ‘accidentally’ disrespect us?” wrote another user.
