While thousands of people have been displaced and lost their homes due to the wildfires that continue to rage in southern California, many are still fixated on ABC News’ anchor David Muir’s yellow jacket.
In recent days, the anchor has been blasted on social media and by some news outlets, because the fire-retardant jacket was cinched in the back with a clothespin. That alteration, which is a common tweak among fashion stylists to make models appear slimmer, set off a cascade of criticism. After a video of Muir gesturing to show the destruction around him revealed the clothespin went viral, many observers cried “vanity” and “narcissist” on “X” and Instagram. Some media types followed suit including Megyn Kelly, who posted “It isn’t dress up time.”
A source familiar with Muir’s live hit said Friday, “This was 30 seconds before air. A producer stepped in to fix the coat in the wind. This had nothing to do with David Muir asking for anything.”
The 51-year-old, who is also ABC News’ managing editor, started his career in front of the camera in 1994 in his hometown of Syracuse. After joining the network in 2003, Muir has covered Hurricane Katrina, the famine in Somalia and the extreme flooding in South Sudan. Others know him as a moderator of one of the presidential debates between President Joe Biden and the former and now incoming president Donald Trump.
David Muir readies to board a Cal Fire helicopter.
Courtesy photo
As for the yellow jacket debate, an ABC News spokesperson said, “Here’s an anchor standing in the middle of horrific wildfires where people have lost their everything. David is solely focused on the people who are suffering and the heroic efforts of the firefighters – and that’s what everyone should be focused on.”
As of Friday afternoon, the total damage and economic losss to the Los Angeles areais estimated to be between $135 million and $150 million, according to AcuWeather statistics.
Mark Feldstein, the chair of broadcast journalism at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, said, “This is being pressed by right-wing media and their attempt to discredit liberal media, legacy media, Muir, and ABC. Usually, when something like this takes off, it’s usually for a reason to re-enforce pre-existing narratives. Muir’s been kind of a joke for network news people for years because of the tight shirts he wears and the anchor man posturing. This re-enforces that image of him and of television news generally, which can be like that. Particularly, with the juxtaposition of the tragedy of the fires makes the kind of vain posturing look more tasteless. It’s always an issue when tragedy is used as a prop for television celebrities. And it is maybe as inevitable as it is ubiquitous.”
Making the point that when on assignment, new correspondents often dress to match “preconceived stereotypes for the occasion” in safari jackets in war zones or combat situations, he said, “This is kind of like that.”
Muir hasn’t ditched the outerwear, but it isn’t clipped in the back anymore. For Friday night’s “World News Tonight” coverage, he will anchor its East and West Coast editions. Muir will survey the destruction from above, by flying with Cal Fire in a helicopter. The newsman will also anchor tonight’s hourlong “American Catastrophe: L.A. Burning – A special Edition of ‘20/20.’”
