A long term New York City news anchor and reporter is out of a job making offensive comments that were picked up by a hot mic.
ABC 7 New York’s Ken Rosato was fired at the start of the month over the crass comments, which his agent claimed did not include a racial slur, reports Page Six.
An insider told the newspaper he was ‘immediately let go’ and he was ‘fired for cause’ but didn’t go any further.
There has been no official statement from the channel on the firing. DailyMail.com has reached out to the ABC affiliate for further comment.
‘Being fired for any racial slur is 100 percent inaccurate and untrue. Ken Rosato had a benchmark of 20 years at WABC of supporting all equality,’ his spokesman said.
Rosato reportedly made an ‘off-color’ remark off-air and was fired ‘immediately with cause’
Ken Rosato was fired from ABC New York after 20 years with the channel after a hot mic incident
Rosato’s former colleagues were told about his firing on Friday in a series of one-on-one meetings. They were not told what Rosato said.
An email was also sent out to staff that said he was ‘no longer with WABC. We thank him for his years of service.’
Rosato started with ABC New York in 2003 as a freelance reporter for the brand’s Eyewitness News show.
In 2007, Rosato was given a shot at the anchor desk and remained there hosting This Morning alongside Shirleen Allicot, Heather O’Rourke and Sam Champion.
Rosato’s presence has been scrubbed from ABC New York’s website and social media, including a profile segment that was done on him in September 2020.
An email was also sent out to staff that said Rosato ‘is no longer with WABC. We thank him for his years of service’
The host began with the channel in 2003 and began anchoring in 2007
In the segment Rosato says his first love was opera and that his dream job was to become a veterenarian. The former anchor also talks about his love of cooking in the piece.
During the interview, Rosato is asked what the most glorious moment of his life was, the anchor responds by saying it was when he was asked to front ABC New York’s news program.
‘I was a full time freelance reporter, I had a chance to fill-in anchoring. The ratings spiked. The ratings spiked.
‘Then I was told: ‘We are offering you a new contract. You are our new morning anchor.’ Which was the moment I dreamed about for about 20 years and it came true.’
According to his LinkedIn page, Rosato previously worked for Fox New York and for CBS Miami before landing at the ABC affiliate. He is a graduate of NYU where he studied radio, Italian and Spanish.
In a 2020 interview, Rosato described his ascent to the anchor desk at ABC New York as the ‘most glorious moment’ of his life
It appears that Rosato has met the same fate as Don Lemon, who was fired in April shortly after he was caught on a hot mic disparaging former Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
That instance was one of many that likely contributing to Lemon parting ways with CNN.
On his morning show, Lemon tossed to a clip of Jon Stewart interviewing US Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks, in which Stewart confronted the official about what he called extreme waste in the Defense Department’s $850million budget.
Hicks took issue with Stewart’s description of the issue, to which he replied: ‘I can’t figure out how $850billion to a department means that the rank and file still have to be on food stamps. To me, that’s f***ing corruption.’
As the video faded out, Lemon can be heard on his mic saying, ‘He gets a lot of leeway with the comedian thing, though.’ It seemed Lemon had been chatting with his co-anchors about Stewart during the time that the clip played.
After a few seconds of silence, Lemon backtracked to say that Stewart is so much more than a comedian, a point that he then proceeded to repeat several times.
Stewart, in addition to being a comedian, has over the years become a staunch advocate for American servicemen and first responders.
He has lobbied lawmakers in Washington many times over issues like benefits for 9/11 first responders and healthcare coverage for servicemembers exposed to burn pits.
When Lemon realized what had happened, he attempted to run damage control on the situation by saying: ‘We were just discussing that Jon Stewart is so much more than a comedian. He is a thought leader.’
