MSNBC has officially issued an apology for what they call an ‘ill-advised’ Cinco de Mayo segment.
Thomas Roberts, the anchor of MSNBC’s “Way Too Early” show, apologized Tuesday for references made about Mexicans and Cinco de Mayo.
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More details + video of the incident below…
Roberts, who hosts the show from 5:30 a.m. to 6 a.m., hit the tweets to apologize to viewers, stating that their segment, which featured a correspondent in a sombrero swilling tequila, was in no way intended to demean Mexicans.
During several moments in the show on Monday, correspondent Louis Burgdorf appeared in a suit and tie and a sombrero.
“Happy Cinco de Mayo. Let me just take a shot here to get the thing started,” he said before appearing to take a drink. “Ole!”
Later, Roberts was shown dancing with a maraca in one hand while there were margarita glasses and bottles of “tequila” on his anchor desk.
Burgdorf also popped into the closing shot, in which he apparently pretended to drink from one of the tequila bottles for several seconds as Roberts explained the background of the holiday.
According to CNN, the apology came after Hugo Balta, the president of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, issued the following statement about the segment:
This is simply the worst example I have seen of a discriminatory stereotypical portrayal of any community by any media. The fact that this was done by a news organization is abominable. This wasn’t a chance occurrence. This was a planned segment where many decision-makers at MSNBC’s ‘Way Too Early’ program agreed on the content and execution which concluded on what was seen nationwide.
Balta added in a Skype interview with CNN en Espa?ol: “It made me ashamed for the journalists, for this network MSNBC, to show a segment that is full of stereotypes about the Mexican community.”
Or in other words…