An attempted prank was shut down by Good Day Philadelphia anchor Mike Jerrick this morning after Jerrick wore a bright pink sweater on-air.
WTXF reporter Steve Keeley tried to shame Jerrick by reenacting something a High School friend of his used to do to guys who wore pink.
Keeley had Jerrick put a hand on his hip, then had him put his hand in what could be considered an effeminate angle, before Keeley said the punch line, which was “Hi, guy.”
“I don’t think this is appropriate,” said Jerrick. “I’ll just be a teapot.”
One viewer didn’t like the prank, calling it homophobic, reports phillymag.com, and said so on twitter.
“Anyone making remarks like this, or any remarks that mock or make fun of other lifestyles, is inappropriate,” Dan Haney told Philly Mag. “Especially from someone in the public spotlight. This just perpetuates the issue of bullying. I’m not perfect. I’ve said things myself in the past that I’m not proud of. But I’ve evolved, and I have seen that deep down, we are all the same. And we should treat all people — no matter what their differences — the same way we want to be treated.”
@FOX29philly inappropriate #homophobic comment about @MikeFOX29 for wearing a pink sweater by Steve Keeley . See this video pic.twitter.com/EtB9VH2CaV
— Dan Haney (@PhillyDan1958) February 9, 2017