A popular news anchor Mark Mester has been fired from KTLA, days after he defended his on-air co-anchor, Lynette Romero.
As per the Los Angeles Times, the decision to fire Mester was announced by KTLA general manager Janene Drafs during a newsroom meeting on September 22 at around 1:15 pm.
Mester choked back tears as he apologized on air to viewers last weekend, saying the exit of co-anchor Lynette Romero “was rude, it was cruel, it was inappropriate, and we are so sorry.”
“You did not deserve this, it was a mistake, and we hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us,” the Los Angeles Times reported Mester as saying.
The Los Angeles network let go of Romero without giving her a chance to say goodbye to her viewers. She had long been a popular host of the weekend morning show, and viewers were outraged that the network did not allow her a chance to speak to her fans and let them know that she would be moving on to a new opportunity elsewhere if she was able to find a job already.
As per the publication, anonymous sources revealed that Mester had violated their trust on-air. It was reported that Mark Mester ignored a script written as a farewell to Romero, which included pictures and snippets from her time as an anchor.
Both Mester and Romero seem to be fan favorites at KTLA, with Mester most recently turning his hand to “Mester’s Meals,” a cooking series that gained sponsorship from Mother’s Market & Kitchen in early August.
After news of Mark Mester‘s firing became public, the internet criticized the station and slammed them for being a “toxic workplace.”
In the comments section of a post shared by username u/Stock412 on Reddit, several users also called out the channel, stating it is “their loss” and hailed Mark for standing up for his friend.
It wasn’t just Reddit, but Twitter users also expressed their anger towards the channel for the way they were treating their employees. Several users claimed to boycott the channel for their actions, which led to #BoycottKTLA trend on the social media platform.
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Sources: AWM, Los Angeles Times
