Los Angeles news anchor Chris Burrous was accused of shaming meteorologist Liberte Chan by giving her a sweater to cover up her little black dress on live TV in response to viewer complaints. But the cover-up spawned more complaints, who used the hashtag #sweatergate to accuse him of sexism.
Chan was in the middle of her KTLA weather update on Saturday, wearing the cocktail dress, when a gray sweater appeared on the right side of the screen.
“What’s going on? You want me to put this on? Why? Because it’s cold?” Chan asked, seeming surprised.
“We’re getting a lot of emails,” Burrous responded from off-camera.
“What? Really? I look like a librarian now,” she said after covering up with the sweater.
Burrous apologized for embarrassing Chan after fans on social media accused him of humiliating her.
“I completely understand meant in jest but I see how it seemed. I am sorry. I hope you will give me another chance,” Burrous tweeted.
Chan and Burrous read some of the emails during a Facebook Live chat and both appear to be having fun with the situation.
“Wow,” Chan said. “It’s a dress, people.”
She said she will not wear the dress again, because it was a “loaner” anyway.
Check out the video.
Problem solved! Half the emails love dress, half not so much. Here's our compromise. @KTLA @KTLAMorningNews pic.twitter.com/l6OWowqHWO
— Chris Burrous (@chrisburrous) May 14, 2016
I completely understand meant in jest but I see how it seemed. I am sorry. I hope you will give me another chance
— Chris Burrous (@chrisburrous) May 15, 2016
@KTLA @KTLAMorningNews we are very close friends, I was joking but I see how it seemed harsh. I am sorry.
— Chris Burrous (@chrisburrous) May 15, 2016
https://twitter.com/suraiasahar/status/732047009855721472
https://twitter.com/VixenRogue/status/731966806965948416
This #sweatergate vid shows how anon clutch of ppl feel they have right to say how a woman dresses at work. Then her boss does their bidding
— Wilson Dizard (@willdizard) May 15, 2016