KC meteorologist apologizes for featuring “Kitler” cat

(Oops)

Well, let’s give Alena Lee a mulligan. But… she should’ve known better. The Kansas City meteorologist at KCTV5, has a tradition: every Saturday night, she features a pet picture submitted by a local viewer to be featured in a “Caturday” shoutout during her weather update.

Nice.

Not so nice, was Lee cluelessly promoting a pic of a white cat with a black patch under his nose. If the feline’s resemblance to Adolf Hitler wasn’t obvious enough, the cat’s name was KITLER.

Yes, the cat’s name was spelled out in capital letters below the cat’s picture. Lee read the name without batting an eye which may have indicated she realized something was off about the cat’s name. No, instead the meteorologist compared the cat to Charlie Chaplin.

“I think Kitler kind of looks like Charlie Chaplin here,” Lee said, referring to the comic star of silent films who was born just four days before Hitler in 1889. “Maybe we’re going to call him Charlie Jr.”



Viewers (assuming White Supremacists were overjoyed here) were immediately turned off by the segment. They questioned how the cat meme could have been approved by production. “This is disgusting and you need to make a public apology immediately,” one local wrote on Twitter, tagging the news station.

On Sunday, Lee offered an apology. Speaking on air, she explained that the picture had been given to her and said she had not set out to offend.

“I never intended to hurt or offend anyone by using the picture that was given to me,” Lee said, adding that she would not repeat the offensive name. “I understand my mistake and am deeply sorry. In the future, I will be more diligent with this content to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The Reel 360 team will give you a mulligan this time, but if we see any cats named “Charles Meowson,” “Bill Clawsby” or “Harvey Meowstein” you’ll be suspect, Alena.

(Oops)

Well, let’s give Alena Lee a mulligan. But… she should’ve known better. The Kansas City meteorologist at KCTV5, has a tradition: every Saturday night, she features a pet picture submitted by a local viewer to be featured in a “Caturday” shoutout during her weather update.

Nice.

Not so nice, was Lee cluelessly promoting a pic of a white cat with a black patch under his nose. If the feline’s resemblance to Adolf Hitler wasn’t obvious enough, the cat’s name was KITLER.

Yes, the cat’s name was spelled out in capital letters below the cat’s picture. Lee read the name without batting an eye which may have indicated she realized something was off about the cat’s name. No, instead the meteorologist compared the cat to Charlie Chaplin.

“I think Kitler kind of looks like Charlie Chaplin here,” Lee said, referring to the comic star of silent films who was born just four days before Hitler in 1889. “Maybe we’re going to call him Charlie Jr.”



Viewers (assuming White Supremacists were overjoyed here) were immediately turned off by the segment. They questioned how the cat meme could have been approved by production. “This is disgusting and you need to make a public apology immediately,” one local wrote on Twitter, tagging the news station.

On Sunday, Lee offered an apology. Speaking on air, she explained that the picture had been given to her and said she had not set out to offend.

“I never intended to hurt or offend anyone by using the picture that was given to me,” Lee said, adding that she would not repeat the offensive name. “I understand my mistake and am deeply sorry. In the future, I will be more diligent with this content to ensure it doesn’t happen again.

The Reel 360 team will give you a mulligan this time, but if we see any cats named “Charles Meowson,” “Bill Clawsby” or “Harvey Meowstein” you’ll be suspect, Alena.