The news anchor, who 'accidentally' used 'jigaboo' while praising the singer's 'Sound of Music' tribute, has apologized and admitted she didn't know the racist term was even a word.
- Feb 24, 2015
AceShowbiz - Kristi Capel ended up facing backlash after she tried to compliment Lady GaGa's performance at the 2015 Academy Awards on Sunday night, February 22. The WJW Channel 8 news anchor was discussing the singer's "The Sound of Music" tribute on-air when she "accidentally" dropped a racial slur.
"It's hard to really hear [GaGa's] voice with all the jigaboo music that she does, or whatever you want to call it," Capel told her co-anchor Wayne Dawson. For those who don't know what "jigaboo" is, that's a term used to refer to black people.
Dawson appeared to know the meaning of the term, but he just briefly laughed while Capel went on to praise GaGa, "She has a gorgeous voice - I never knew!"
Following criticism from viewers, Capel then took to Twitter to apologize. She defended herself, saying she didn't know what "jigaboo" meant. "I deeply regret my insensitive comment. I didn't know the meaning and would never intentionally use hurtful language. I sincerely apologize," she wrote. In another post, she admitted she didn't even know it was a word.
Her news director Andy Fishman later apologized on behalf of the network in an interview with the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. "She didn't even know what the word meant, which is not an excuse," he said. "We've spoken to her about this, and we're confident it won't happen again. From here, we'll handle it internally."
Fishman also made it clear that Capel would still continue her job following the racist comment. "She does feel horrible about this. It's not who she is," he added.
