Local NBC anchor Leon Harris who went viral for shaky news segment before resignation admits months later he was boozed up
The award-winning DC-based anchor who went viral on Thanksgiving for a cringeworthy news segment finally revealed this week he was boozed up on air – and didn’t even realize how shaky he was.Now-former NBC4 Washington journalist Leon Harris addressed the uncomfortable moment in which he struggled mightily while delivering the news, including stumbling over words and awkward hesitations. He said he had a couple of glasses of wine with dinner within four hours between shows, but that was enough to push him off kilter.“I ended drinking in between shows and then went on the air and I was more affected than I thought I was, even at the time I felt I was perfectly fine,” he told former CNN co-anchor Daryn Kagan in her new YouTube show, “Call Me Friend.”“I ended up getting pulled off the air.People were calling, they were thinking that I was having a stroke.
It was the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.”“My body has changed and I can’t drink anymore,” added Harris, who had faced past drinking problems.“And I didn’t realize it.”Harris said his boss had to come into the station on the Thanksgiving holiday and instructed him to get in an Uber to go home.He took a leave of absence following the broadcast — a video of which quickly spread across social media — and last month jointly announced with NBC4 Washington that he was leaving the station for good.“I kind of knew it was coming, but the station just felt it was too much of a negative event, it was too well-publicized that they didn’t feel comfortable in bringing me back,” Harris told Kagan.
“Even though I left, I went immediately into rehab.”When he announced his permanent departure, he said it was a “difficult decision” but that he had to focus on his health after 40 years of non-stop work.At the time, he didn’t provide more details.
Harris previously worked at CNN with Kagan, the interviewer, and other local DC stations.The talented broadcaster cover...