A Mississippi news presenter has been fired after using a Snoop Dogg-inspired catchphrase.
According to the Mississippi Clarion Ledger, Barbie Bassett, a veteran broadcaster and meteorologist with Jackson-based station WLBT, said, “Fo’ shizzle my nizzle” during a conversation about the rapper’s wine business on March 8.
According to Dictionary.com, the phrase is derived from fellow rapper E-40’s use of an “izzle” suffix and alludes to a racial epithet in part.
Longtime Mississippi news anchor appears to no longer be employed with the news team after saying, "Fo shizzle, my nizzle" on airhttps://t.co/O5tFTsac1g pic.twitter.com/hs01IyVQaL
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) March 24, 2023
Bassett, who hasn’t posted to her Facebook profile since March 8, is no longer listed on the news station’s website, according to the Clarion Ledger.
In a message to the Clarion Ledger, WLBT General Manager Ted Fortenberry stated that the station is “unable to comment on personnel matters.”
Bassett’s absence comes after she made a controversial remark about the grandma of a Black reporter in October. Bassett apologized for the “insensitive and hurtful” remark, saying it was unintentional.
Prior to the apology, WLBT anchor Howard Ballou stated that the station had “meaningful internal conversations and discussions” in response to Bassett’s remark.
