MSNBC Anchor Alison Morris Denies Using Racial Slur In Slip-Up While Reporting Kobe Bryant’s Death

MSNBC anchor Alison Morris said she did not use a racial slur while reporting on the death of NBA legend Kobe Bryant after a viral video showed an on-air slip-up that, to many, sounded like the N-word.

The cable news network was reporting on the helicopter crash that claimed the life of Kobe along with his 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, and seven other people on board. As Morris was talking about how well Kobe fit on the Los Angeles Lakers, she slipped up while saying the team’s name and said a word that to many sounded like “n***ers.”

Video of her slip drew viral interest online, with many sharing and calling on both Morris and MSNBC to address the flub. In a tweet published later on Sunday evening, Morris said she did not use a racial slur and instead just stumbled over her words.

“Earlier today, while reporting on the tragic news of Kobe Bryant’s passing, I unfortunately stuttered on air, combining the names of the Knicks and the Lakers to say ‘Nakers.’ Please know I did not & would NEVER use a racist term. I apologize for the confusion this caused,” she wrote.

Many agreed that the word she said sounded closer to “nakers” than the N-word, but it continued to draw controversy.

This is not the first time that an apparent on-air slip of a racial slur has caused trouble for a news anchor. Last year, New York television meteorologist Jeremy Kappell was fired after appearing to say a racial slur when referencing Martin Luther King, Jr. As NBC News reported, it appeared that Kappell instead said the words “Martin Luther Coon King Jr. Park,” using a slur for people of color.

There were other media outlets facing scrutiny in the wake of Bryant’s death. The Los Angeles Count Sheriff released a statement that appeared to blast TMZ, the first news outlet that reported his death, for rushing to publish before next of kin had been notified for the victims. There were reportedly eight people on board the helicopter when it crashed in Calabasas, with all of them reportedly dying on impact.

Other news outlets had to retract reports for apparent misinformation, including reports that fellow Los Angeles Lakers alum Rick Fox was among those killed, and that Bryant’s other daughters were also in the helicopter at the time.

There was not yet a statement from MSNBC about anchor Alison Morris and her possible racial slur.