Albany TV news anchor Heather Kovar has been suspended from her job by CBS after she left viewers shocked as she appeared to look disoriented and slurred her words during an evening news broadcast over the weekend. During her Saturday segments, Kovar looked jittery, wide-eyed, and occasionally incoherent.
While other social media users responded less compassionate, several local viewers expressed their concerns in their posts to Twitter and Facebook soon after clips of the show were put online and circulated across the nation. However, CBS wasn't that kind enough and immediately issued a statement and suspended her from her job pending an internal investigation.
Shocking Her Fans
Kovar looked jittery and wide-eyed and at times incoherent from the time she started her 6 pm broadcast on Saturday, leaving fans concerned and shocked. While attempting to switch between parts, Kovar at one point said, "And so, moving on tonight, is we have to tell you also, you know, like other news that's happening in the area, and across the area, in the nation."
Things went worse from there. As she spoke about the Oklahoma natural gas plant explosion, she also started to stumble over her words. She also abruptly shifted the subject while reading the report and then bizarrely exclaimed, "Well, hello! Good afternoon!"
"Like, I was telling you this morning, if you watched us this morning starting at 6 a.m., 7 a.m., I told you, you know what? Today, what a beautiful day outside! It is just amazing. And so, a great time for outdoor music."
Her sentences had no link to one another and the entire broadcast at times looked hilarious.
Kovar was also clearly experiencing some technical difficulties throughout the segment as she was occasionally spotted grasping a cable. In the end, she was interrupted mid-sentence.
Kovar was also slated to anchor Saturday's 11 pm news newscast but she was handed over her suspension by that time.
Completely Lost
Kovar was replaced by Greg Floyd, the channel's weekday evening anchor, for the 11 pm slot on Saturday. CBS Albany issued a statement confirming Kovar's suspension. "Heather Kovar has been suspended pending our internal investigation. We have no further comment at this time," the statement read.
Kovar since has defended herself but that didn't help much. She is still being slammed on social media although many have also shown their concern. Kovar had tweeted on Saturday that she would return to the air on Sunday morning, but she did not do so.
Instead, Emma Quinn took her place.
In a statement to the Times Union later Sunday, Kovar noted that she had "returned early from family leave following my dad's death. On Friday, I notified the station I would not be renewing my contract which expires July 31. Saturday I was scheduled to work the early morning 6 a.m. shift and the evening shift. I was sleep-deprived and exhausted."
Sinclair Broadcasting Company is the owner of CBS 6, commonly known as WRGB. Kovar has been working as an anchor for the network since July 2016. Prior to joining Channel 6, Kovar worked at WTEN/News10ABC.
Not all were harsh on Kovar following the goof-up. "I hope heather ok...she looks a wreck and she is slurring," someone wrote on Twitter.
According to the Times Union of Albany, the anchor recently came back after a leave of absence during which she was caring for her father before his death.
