New York news anchor fired over hot mic attack on co-host

ABC7 in New York has fired one of its morning anchors after he was allegedly caught on a hot mic attacking his co-host with a vile insult.

Ken Rosato, who had served as host of the network’s Eyewitness News This Morning, was fired last week after allegedly calling co-anchor Shirleen Allicot a “c***.” Rosato was not on the air when he made the comment, but it was reportedly picked up by a hot mic. Page Six first broke the news of Rosato’s dismissal.

Rosato first started reporting for ABC7 as a freelancer before being hired on a full-time basis. A native of New Rochelle, New York, Rosato attended New York University and briefly served as a priest at a Catholic church in Florida before returning to New York City. He began working on ABC7’s flagship morning show in 2007.

According to Page Six’s reporting, Rosato was “immediately let go” after the network became aware of his linguistic infraction against his co-host. The network informed people working on the morning show about Rosato’s departure on Friday.

In addition to Rosato and Allicot, Heather O’Rourke and Sam Champion served as hosts of Eyewitness News This Morning. It is not yet clear if ABC7 intends to replace Rosato on the show or simply move forward with the other hosts.

Mr Rosato has not issued any public statement about his dismissal, nor has he sent a tweet sent May 2. Mr Rosato’s Twitter profile still says that he is a “9 time Emmy Award-winning major market TV news anchor!”

A representative for Rosato did give a comment to Page Six on Friday, but only to deny speculation from a Page Six source that Rosato might have used a racial slur.

“Being fired for any racial slur is 100 per cent inaccurate and untrue,” the representative told Page Six. “Ken Rosato had a benchmark of 20 years at WABC of supporting all equality.”