A news anchor on a local station in Mississippi appears to have said one too many things she shouldn’t have on air as a white person in the U.S. in the year 2023 and is no longer listed as a member of the team following a recent incident. The anchor, Barbie Bassett of WLBT, was taking part in a report on famed rapper Snoop Dogg’s latest successful wine venture when she decided to utter a phrase that references a word nobody of that race ever wants to be caught saying on TV.
“Before you know it, she’d have a Snoop Dog tattoo on her shoulder,” said her co-anchor in a viral clip of the fateful show.
“Fo’ shizzle, my nizzle,” Bassett replied.
It seems like this shouldn’t have to be said, but “nizzle” in this context refers to the N-word.
This saying was popularized by Snoop Dogg in his 2000 single “Snoop Dogg (What’s My Name Pt. 2)” after borrowing the -izzle suffix from fellow rapper E-40. If you didn’t know what it was literally supposed to mean until now, you should probably avoid repeating any phrase used by a Black rapper if you can help it.
If firing Bassett for this seems extreme, it may help to know that she has displayed something of a pattern of appropriating Black slang on air and clearly making her Black coworkers uncomfortable, as well as many viewers.
In October 2022, Bassett remarked to a Black reporter on the scene at a Home Depot that she needed to procure a pie of some kind to offer to the people there to “get the scoop.” The worst part comes when she says that the reporter’s “grandmammy has got some kind of recipe” for just such a pie, using a popular AAVE term with a history going back to the times of U.S. chattel slavery for “grandmother.”
For that one, Bassett issued an official apology.
“I used a term that was offensive to many in our audience and to my coworkers here at WLBT,” said Bassett. “Though not intentional, I now understand how my comment was both insensitive and hurtful. I have apologized to Carmen Poe. Now, I would like to apologize to you. That is not the heart of who I am. And for that, I humbly ask for your forgiveness and I apologize to everyone I have offended. I will learn from this and participate in training so I can better understand our history and our people.”
Apparently, the training didn’t stick. Following this latest alleged slip-up, Bassett has been off-air with no indication that she’ll return. The only comment from the station that anyone has been able to procure, from WLBT Vice President and General Manager Ted Fortenberry, offers no answers.
“As I am sure you can understand, WLBT is unable to comment on personnel matters,” he said.
Her coworkers have all declined to comment. Bassett herself has been absent from her social media pages since March 8, just after the segment on Snoop Dogg aired.
It does not appear that she will be missed by many, particularly the guy who was on the end of the table making all the faces after she made the N-word reference.
