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A news anchor left viewers flabbergasted when she appeared disheveled and slurring her speech during a broadcast over the weekend.
Albany, New York anchor Heather Kovar struggled to make it through an evening broadcast Saturday night for WRGB CBS 6. Her words blended together and she seemed to be repeating herself and stammering.
The scene was disconcerting to many viewers.
\u201cViewers expressing concern over train wreck of local evening newscast out of Albany. Anchor Heather Kovar appeared disheveled, misspoke, and slurred her words for the entire newscast. Here, she tries to set up the weather and toss to the meteorologist, who\u2019s name she gets wrong.\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1657470984
Kovar, an Emmy award winning reporter, gave an incomprehensible description of the heatwave facing much of the country.
She said:
“More than 50 million people across the country, southeast or under warnings for excessive heat and boy, don’t you know that, a 105 degrees in Texas today. I just spoke with my mother as for what she’s dealing with, it’s a major heatwave and it’s, it’s just hitting everywhere, we’re so lucky, its only 80 degrees here.”
At another point, Kovar said some strange phrases such as “these areas are reaching such areas...” and misnamed her coworker Craig Gold as Craig Adams.
Her appearance was uncharacteristic and movements were jittery. The segment was cut off part way through, with Kovar telling viewers on Twitter she’ll see them again on Sunday.
Shortly after, the station announced she was suspended.
\u201cI hope Heather is ok on news channel 6 @cbs6 But she shouldnt be on TV she looks a wreck and she is slurring #cbs #heatherkovar\u201d— Eve G (@Eve G) 1657405113
\u201c@nypost Oh no, I've seen it. She was hammered..\ud83e\udd74\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1657603866
\u201c@MatchIdea Day drinking\u201d— IdeaMatch (@IdeaMatch) 1657529374
\u201c@mediaonblast That chick was suffering from an elbow problem---she bent it too much, lifting the glass to her mouth. They're hiring at McDonald's.\u201d— Media On Blast (@Media On Blast) 1657562669
\u201c@nypost Happened to me after I exhausted a bottle of wine\ud83d\ude0f\u201d— New York Post (@New York Post) 1657603866
Kovar explained the whole situation was down to exhaustion.
According to the anchor, she was sleep deprived. While some people may roll their eyes at that explanation, there seems to be some weight to it.
Kovar previously shared her work schedule on Twitter, showing she was going from late shifts to early morning shifts back to back.
Additionally, some internet commenters discovered she’d been home in May to be with her father who was in hospice.
It seems Kovar had a lot going on.
\u201cMore on Heather Kovar: She had posted her work schedule on Twitter, and it\u2019s insane. It doesn\u2019t even give her the SAG-AFTRA guaranteed minimum turnaround time of 10 hours from Saturday to Sunday. A former producer tells me there\u2019s a toxic work culture at WRGB CBS 6 Albany\u2026\u201d— Mike Sington (@Mike Sington) 1657470984
\u201cI keep seeing a clip of this woman, Heather Kovar, being passed around. I would like to inform others that she had experienced loss not long ago, just back to work a month ago, and she was working insane back to back shifts. Be kind!\u201d— James Tyler (@James Tyler) 1657486681
\u201cSoooo\u2026no one thinks this anchor may simply be struggling with grief?? #heatherkovar NY News Anchor, Leaving Show After Blaming Erratic Broadcast on Being 'Sl...https://t.co/4cGL65smqe\u201d— Zenique Gardner Perry (@Zenique Gardner Perry) 1657662975
\u201cI blame the producers, manager that worked that night. They should be suspended also. My heart goes out to Heather Kovar. They should have done something the second she came in that day. We all have bad moments in our lives. Shame on all that can\u2019t have compassion.\u201d— Chrisanne (@Chrisanne) 1657590632
\u201c@CBS6Heather Please know there are a lot of people sending you a lot of love \u2764\ufe0f\u201d— Heather Kovar (@Heather Kovar) 1657363761
\u201cI support Heather Kovar. Workers around the country have been working grueling schedules since the pandemic.\u201d— Douglas D\u2019Arc (@Douglas D\u2019Arc) 1657579442
\u201cYikes! I\u2019m sorry to see what happened to Heather this past weekend and it landed national news tonight.. We all have our faults & stuff happens. I hope things improve for Heather and what she decides to do post CBS6 News/NEWS10ABC. #HeatherKovarStrong, @CBS6Heather #GoodLuck\u201d— Amy Modesti (@Amy Modesti) 1657675518
Despite this information, Kovar has still been suspended by CBS pending an internal investigation. There are still accusations of the anchor being intoxicated while performing weekend reports.
Kovar, for her part, isn’t waiting.
She’s decided to not renew her contract at the end of the month. To that end, it’s agreed she will remain off air until the contract has run out.