US news anchor apologizes after comparing black colleague to ape

A television news anchorwoman in the US apologized on-air after comparing her black colleague to a gorilla, NBC News reported Tuesday. Alex Housden of KOCO 5 News in Oklahoma City made the remark last Thursday during a segment on an ape whose handler was running the local zoo’s Instagram for the day.

When a video of a baby gorilla appeared on screen, Housden, who is white, turned to her black co-anchor, Jason Hackett, and said that the ape “kind of looks like you,” NBC reported. The following day, a tearful Housden apologized to Hackett, saying: “I said something yesterday that was inconsiderate, it was inappropriate, and I hurt people.”

“I want you all to know from the bottom of my heart, I apologize for what I said. I know it was wrong and I am so sorry.” Hackett accepted her apology, but acknowledged that the words “cut deep for me.” “I want this to be a teachable moment and that lesson here is that words, words matter,” he said.

“There’s no doubt about that.” The incident comes amid heightened racial tensions in the US following a series of remarks by Republican President Donald Trump directed at lawmakers from the Democratic opposition that have been criticized as racist.