https://www.vibe.com/news/national/mississippi-news-anchor-fired-snoop-dogg-lyrics-1234744926/


On Wednesday (March 8), a white Mississippi news anchor for WLBT named Barbie Bassett recited Snoop Dogg’s popular catchphrase, “Fo’ shizzle, my nizzle,” on-air. The commentary was in reference to a story about the Death Row Records owner’s latest business venture, Snoop Cali Blanc.

Fellow WLBT anchor Wilson Stribling joked that a colleague may get a Snoop Dogg-inspired tattoo, following in the likes of Martha Stewart. To which Bassett replied, “Fo shizzle, my nizzle.” Meteorologist Patrick Ellis was visibly stunned after the comment was uttered.

Weeks later, according to Clarion Ledger, Bassett may have been fired due to the racially insensitive remarks. Though the colloquialism is common African-American Vernacular English, it translates to “for sure, my n***a.”

This isn’t the first instance where Bassett has had to apologize for a racial comment. She was reprimanded back in October 2022 after calling Carmen Poe’s—her Black colleague—grandmother a “grandmammy” live on air. Bassett later issued an apology.

She stated, “Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe. 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.”

Neither the Mount Westmore rapper or WLBT have made a public comment on the matter, but its Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry shared on social media, “WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters.” The Clarion

Ledger also reported that Bassett is no longer listed as part of their news team.

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