'I am deeply sorry and ashamed': CBC News host Wendy Mesley disciplined for using racial slur in two separate meetings
CBC News is taking unspecified “disciplinary action” against journalist Wendy Mesley, who released a statement admitting to using the n-word on two separate occasions in news meetings.
On June 10, CBC announced it was suspending Mesley from her duties as host of The Weekly pending an internal investigation into her use of “a word that should never be used.” At the time, they would not specify what word had been used.
On June 25, Mesley tweeted out a two-page statement, saying she could now speak freely about the incident because CBC’s internal investigation is complete.
“I used a word, and yes, it’s the word people think,” Mesley said.
Please take a look at the following pic.twitter.com/2qSVbzmdSV
— Wendy Mesley (@WendyMesleyCBC) June 25, 2020
In the statement she said it was used “not as a slur,” but instead said she was quoting a journalist they were considering for the program — though Mesley also says she did not quote them directly.
“I hurt my colleagues, my team, and the CBC,” Mesley said. “For that I am deeply sorry and ashamed.”
“Using a racial slur at work re-traumatizes BIPOC & weaponizes the space to protect someone like Wendy, while leaving BIPOC journalists to feel unseen, unheard & unsafe,” CBC News associate producer Imani Walker said on Twitter
The Canadian Press reported that CBC’s head of public affairs Chuck Thompson wouldn’t say what disciplinary action the CBC is specifically taking against Mesley, but she hasn’t been appearing on her show for the last three weeks.
Reflecting on #CDNmedia. A space that evidently upholds whiteness:
I was on the call when Wendy Mesley said "n*gger". Since then, she's released two statements apologizing w/ two different accounts. I'm seeing tons of support for her but in reality, the behaviour is anti-Black.
— Imani Walker (@imaaniwaalker) June 26, 2020
Mesley also admitted to a second instance she used the same slur last September, when she quoted the title of a book. She said someone in the meeting told her afterwards that using the word made people “deeply uncomfortable.”
“I wish I’d treated that more seriously, instead of assuming it was okay because my intentions had been to share outrage and understanding, not to offend,” Mesley said.
Despite that incident, Mesley said that she still used the racial slur in the recent meeting because she thought she was “shining a light on anti-Black racism.”
“I now realize that I did the opposite and I am now one example of the problem.”