It seems that a Mississippi news anchor’s employment at the TV station she worked at may have been terminated because of Snoop Dogg’s lyrics.
Barbie Bassett, a WLBT-TV journalist and meteorologist, was demoted from her morning anchoring responsibilities after making a racially offensive remark, the Clarion Ledger reported on Friday.
Her use of the Snoop Dogg lines “Fo’ shizzle, my nizzle” on a televised newscast earlier this month led to her removal.
“For sure, my n***a,” said Bassett, a White person, in a colloquial expression of friendship.
According to Dictionary.com, E-40, a seasoned rapper and slang authority, is credited for coining the term “izzle” in the late 1990s. The term is rapped by Snoop in the song “Suited N Booted” from 2002.
Bassett has received criticism for making racially insensitive remarks on live television before. She referred to a coworker’s grandmother as her “grandmammy” in October 2022. Immediately after making the comment, Bassett apologised in a statement.
“Last Friday on our newscast ‘Today at 11,’ I used a term that was offensive to many in our audience and to my coworkers here at WLBT. Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe,” she said at the time.
“Now, I would like to apologize to you. That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended. I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people. I can’t mend the hurt my comment caused. I pray you’ll forgive me and that you’ll extend grace through this awful mistake.”
It’s still unclear whether Barbie Bassett knew what she was saying when she spoke the Snoop Dogg catchphrase. She might have lost her work as a result of her verbal error, though.