Los Angeles Anchor Fired After Blasting His Own Station’s ‘Cruel’ Treatment of Co-Anchor Live on Air
KTLA anchor Mark Mester was fired after he deviated from the script last Saturday morning to blast the network for how it handled the exit of one of his colleagues.
Veteran anchor Lynette Romero resigned after nearly 24 years with the Los Angeles-based network. She and Mester had worked together on the weekends, and he described her as his “best friend.”
Romero left to take a job elsewhere and KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin announced her departure through a short statement he read last Wednesday.
Saturday morning, Mester was emotional after he said Romero she was denied an opportunity to say goodbye to viewers. In a scathing takedown of the station, Mester said:
I want to start off right now by offering up an apology to you. What the viewers experienced was rude, it was cruel, it was inappropriate and we are so sorry. I also want to say sorry to Lynette Romero, because Lynette, I love you so much, and you really are my best friend, you did not deserve what happened to you on Wednesday.
“Lynette deserved to say goodbye, it didn’t happen, I don’t know who wrote the script, I don’t know who handed it to Sam Rubin, regardless, this was a mistake,” he added during what was essentially a four-minute monologue. “We owe you an apology, and we owe Lynette an apology.”
Romero also signaled her displeasure with the way her departure was handled after a viewer blasted KTLA on Twitter.
I will always be grateful for the love and affection LA viewers have given me. Stay tuned my friends I’ll be right back.🌻 https://t.co/H6BcRuR8VJ
— Lynette Romero (@LynetteRomero) September 15, 2022
It is not clear where Romero will be headed — or why she left. The Los Angeles Times reported she requested a schedule change that was denied by management. She left voluntarily.
Now, as a result of his statements on air last weekend, Mester is also out at the network. According to the Times, after an initial suspension, KTLA management informed staffers Thursday afternoon he had been fired.
Mester has not posted anything online about the termination, but KTLA has been removed from his Twitter bio.
Watch above, via KTLA.
