LOS ANGELES — Oh, live TV. You never know what you’re going to get.
Viewers of KTLA got weather reporter Liberté Chan in a black dress that some thought was too revealing.
An awkward moment ensued when someone off-camera holds out a gray sweater to Chan.
“What’s going on? You want me to put this on? Why? Cause it’s cold?” Chan asks.
“We’re getting a lot of emails,” someone off-camera responds.
Chan dons the sweater, although with the comment, “I look like a librarian now.”
The weather reporter posted the clip to her Facebook page, asking people what they thought of her outfit. Most of the comments were supportive, but Chan later posted a video of anchor Chris Burrous reading through some of the emails saying the little black dress was too little.
“It’s a dress people. Can we talk about my weather performance?” Chan asks as Burrous reads some of the disparaging comments.
Although Chan apologized to those who thought her dress was inappropriate, she explained her wardrobe choice saying she had another dress at first but, “it just didn’t work, so I had a back up and that’s it, people. I don’t know why everyone’s hating.”
The shot then pans back Burrous who was wearing shorts during the broadcast.
Chan posted an explanation on her personal blog on Sunday:
“After receiving a number of requests for interviews regarding my LBD/Sweater moment on the KTLA Morning News this weekend, I thought I would share a few personal thoughts.
For those who missed what happened Saturday, March 14th, I was wearing a black, beaded sparkly dress and apparently, the station received a slew of negative emails from viewers saying the dress was inappropriate for air.
I’ve worked on-air for 10 years and by now, I’ve learned that everyone has an opinion and you have to have a thick skin to work in this business. It’s a visual medium and sometimes your outfit works and sometimes it doesn’t.
During the 8am hour, my co-anchor came over and handed me a sweater and said, “we’re getting a lot of emails.” I was surprised since I hadn’t seen any of the emails and didn’t think there was anything that inappropriate (the beads/sequins were probably a little much for the morning, but what girl doesn’t like something that sparkles?!), so I played along and put on the sweater.
That prompted a barrage of tweets and more emails from viewers, some of which I included below.
To be perfectly honest, the black beaded dress was a backup. The pattern on my original black and white dress didn’t work on the weather wall (for some reason, it turned semi-transparent), so after my first weather hit at 6am, I changed.
For the record, I was not ordered by KTLA to put on the sweater. I was simply playing along with my co-anchor’s joke, and if you’ve ever watched the morning show, you know we poke fun at each other all the time.
And, also for the record, there is no controversy at KTLA. My bosses did not order me to put on the cardigan, it was a spontaneous moment.. I truly love my job, I like my bosses and enjoy working with my coworkers. Since talking to my team, I want our viewers to know it was never our intention to offend anyone. We are friends on and off the air and if you watch our newscast, you know that.
More importantly, I hope my viewers were able to plan their Saturday once they heard my forecast and enjoyed the sunny weather after the clouds cleared.”
Editor’s note: KTLA and WDAF are both owned by Tribune Broadcasting.
