Lynette Romero’s sudden exit from KTLA after 24 years with the local station is now becoming a huge local story.
The Weeknd’s co-anchor Mark Meester was suspended after an on-air tribute to Romero in which he apologized on behalf of KTLA, a person with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap. The person does not know the terms of Meester’s suspension.
“It was unfair and we’re sorry,” Meester said during the five-minute segment on Saturday.
Prior to Saturday’s broadcast, Romero’s weekend co-anchor Mark Meester posted on social media to tune in as he was going to speak about “his friend Lynette Romero.” During Meester’s heartfelt remarks about his co-anchor, he expressed how unfairly his exit was handled by the station.
“I also want to say sorry to Lynette Romero, because Lynette I love you so much. You really are my best friend. You didn’t deserve what happened to you on Wednesday,” Meester said.
During Meester’s segment, he also named KTLA general manager Janine Drafts, who prompted him to go to the newsroom on Sundays to address the staff.
Meester declined to comment for this story.
Romero, fondly called by his colleagues in the KTLA newsroom, was not even allowed to clear his belongings or say goodbye to the newscast’s longtime audience.
A person with knowledge of the situation told TheWrap, “The audience and newsroom staff learned of her exit when Sam Rubin said goodbye in a scripted farewell and told the rest of the on-air team not to discuss Romero. asked for.”
It was only after Rubin said goodbye to Romero that she responded to a viewer’s tweet on her account, saying “I’ll be back now.”
Representatives for Romero and KTLA owner Nexstar did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
As TheWrap previously reported last Wednesday, the network only confirmed that Romero had left KTLA to pursue another opportunity.
“After nearly 24 years, Lynette Romero, our friend Lynette, has decided to move on from anchoring our weekend morning news,” anchor Sam Rubin said in Wednesday’s broadcast. “KTLA management expected her to be here throughout her career, and KTLA worked hard to make that happen, but Lynette decided to move on to another opportunity.”
During his time at KTLA, Romero covered a wide range of issues and began Sunday’s “Link Up with Lynette”, a segment that focused on broadcasting “good news”. Earlier this year, Romero shared that his mother had passed away from Alzheimer’s and partnership With the Alzheimer’s Association of California Southland.
