A meteorologist was proffered a cardigan live on air after viewers deemed her outfit too risqué for a weather broadcast.
Was the offending garb a pair of high riding hot pants? A bikini perhaps? Body stocking? No, the outré clothing responsible for raising eyebrows in Los Angeles was this black beaded dress.
Liberte Chan was delivering a weather report on KTLA on Saturday morning when a disembodied arm holding a grey cardigan barged into shot.
“What’s going on? You want me to put this on? Why? ‘Cause it’s cold?” Chan asked.
A male employee off screen is heard replying: “We’re getting a lot of emails.”
A bemused Chan took the cardigan and put it on, remarking that she now looked “like a librarian.”
Chan posted a video of herself and her colleagues reading out some of these emails after the show.
“Liberte Chan looked like she stayed out late at a party and came to work in the same dress. Not appropriate for morning weather report. The show’s producers should not have allowed her to do it in a cocktail dress,” one read.
Another described Chan’s dress as “totally inappropriate”.
The matter hit social media and quickly earned itself the hashtag #Sweatergate, with some viewers finding the fact Chan was handed extra clothing live on air oppressive, while others felt it had been done in good humour.
Writing about the incident later in a blog, Chan explained the black dress was actually a backup, which she hurriedly donned when she realised her original frock appeared “semi transparent” against the weather wall.
She added: “For the record, I was not ordered by KTLA to put on the sweater. I was simply playing along with my co-anchor’s joke, and if you’ve ever watched the morning show, you know we poke fun at each other all the time.
“And also, for the record, there is no controversy at KTLA. My bosses did not order me to put on the cardigan. It was a spontaneous moment… I truly love my job, I like my bosses and enjoy working with my co-workers. Since talking to my team, I want our viewers to know it was never our intention to offend anyone.”