Wendy Mesley has been suspended from CBC’s “The Weekly” over some apparently inappropriate language used by the longtime news anchor.
The CBC News Alerts Twitter account confirmed that Mesley had been suspended pending an investigation. According to the tweet, CBC was “made aware of an incident” last week, but will not be issuing any further comment due to the privacy rights of its employees.
In Mesley’s statement, she says she “used a word that should never be used” during an “editorial discussion about current issues regarding race.”
While Mesley did not identify which word she used, she admitted, “I was careless with my language, and wrong to say it. Regardless of my intention, I hurt people and for that I am very sorry. I am also deeply ashamed.”
She concluded by writing, “I immediately apologized to my co-workers, and recognize this is a word that no-one like me should ever use. I made a big mistake and promise to change my behaviour.”
CBC suspends Wendy Mesley as host of 'The Weekly' pending investigation. Corporation says it was 'made aware of an incident' last Thursday but will have no more to say due to 'privacy rights of our employees.' Mesley has posted a statement to Twitter (see below). pic.twitter.com/o3SR5Od9QK
— CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) June 9, 2020
The Toronto Star reports that a CBC spokesman said in an emailed statement that “senior management within CBC News were made aware of an incident” involving Mesley last Thursday.
In a statement on Friday, CBC spokesperson Chuck Thompson said, “In light of the current situation involving Wendy Mesley, we have suspended ‘The Weekly’ for the remaining two episodes of this season.”
