Yahoo Lifestyle Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes Speak Out on David Muir’s LA Fires Controversy
Veteran journalist David Muir drew criticism this week while reporting on the fires in Los Angeles after eagle-eyed fans noticed that he had a clothespin on the back of his jacket, seemingly to improve the fit of the outerwear.
Now, fellow media figures, including his former ABC News colleague Amy Robach, are speaking out on the sartorial controversy.
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The former Good Morning America host talked candidly about the topic with her boyfriend and podcast co-host, T.J. Holmes, on the Jan. 10 episode of Amy and T.J., calling Muir a “consummate professional.”
Robach explained that “he cinched his jacket, as many of us have done on the field and on the set to create a cleaner line” amid “hurricane-force winds, described as almost tornadic,” before diving into why people on social media were bothered by the visible clothespin on his jacket while on the air.
“When you have a massive tragedy unfolding behind you with flames, people's homes, belongings, lives being lost, to even be concerned about how you look seems like a slap in the face to people dealing with the worst possible situation,” said Robach.
She continued, saying that she understands “the anger and the fact that they're hurling it at him because, by seeing that clothespin, it looks like his focus was on himself instead of on the story he was covering.”
Robach explained that she’s taken “great care as a journalist” to not focus on her appearance as much while reporting on certain stories while in the field. “We all look different on the scene of these sorts of tragedies than we do on the set. On the set, we've got hair and makeup and nice suits and fitted clothing, but when you're out there, it's just a very different environment,” she detailed.
Former CNN anchor Holmes said that “the frustration is understandable,” but despite the optics, there could be more at play. “The perspective might be missing if you're just reading tweets. The perspective might be missing in that, oftentimes, and I don't know if he does travel with a producer or even a wardrobe person… you might be looking at your phone getting the latest, or on the phone looking at notes or doing something, and people are pulling and plugging things onto you.”
The journalist said “you don't even know what's happening to you, and someone could've made the decision of ‘Let me do this with the jacket.’ We just don't know.”
ABC Chicago meteorologist Greg Dutra backed that up on Instagram, posting to his Story that clipping part of a jacket back while on the air is a “standard move with a huge coat.”
The Instagram Story, which showed a photo of Dutra from behind while filming a segment with a clip on his jacket, also said “put me in the club I guess” with a shrugging emoji, per TMZ.
Internet users seemed to agree, with some noting in the comments on a social media video of Muir that “Oversized jackets can get caught on debris and cause safety issues” and that it could have been clipped back to avoid noise if the coat was “flapping around in the wind.”
Next: How to Help Those Affected by the California Wildfires: Resources, Donations, More
