What really sparked John Roberts’ infamous rant against Kiran Chetry, his co-host on CNN’s American Morning? On September 8, 2010, JD infamously berated an off-camera Kiran during his interview with President Obama’s smirking senior advisor, David Axelrod. Carpe Diem reported the story that day; Mediaite ran with it (with vid) about a week later; consequently, other media outlets (e.g., Huffington Post, Gawker, and TV Guide) picked it up, and, subsequently, it went viral. However, no one reported what Kiran had done to set off JD’s rant.
This morning, JD (now FNC’s senior national correspondent) provided his version of the “infamous incident” during a telephone interview with FBN’s Don Imus. Succinctly, Imus asked, “Was it your co-host, one? And what was she doing?” JD stuttered, “Well, well, well, that, that morning, I was wearing a particularly lovely shade of, of plum nail polish and there had been a chip that had developed in it when I had whacked my finger on the desk, and she was trying to fix the chip in my nail polish. Explaining his errant behavior, JD continued, “And, I thought that interviewing David Axelrod, that was not an appropriate time to be fixing my nail polish. So I just said, ‘Would you mind waiting until I’m [sic] done this and then you can go ahead.'” [Vid via Mediaite.]
However, Kiran gave a completely different story during her interview with Mediaite‘s Tommy Christopher on February 18. When Christopher rather reluctantly queried her about “that clip,” she stammered, “I was, oh, um, it was just, I think it was a little bit overblown: This is why I love you bloggers because one moment in time gets, you know, immortalized forever.” Then, putting her hands over her computer keyboard as if reenacting the scene, Kiran continued, “But, we were dealing with some breaking news: he was doing an interview and I was typing. And, I guess that got a little annoying.” Later, Christopher confidently commented, “Well, I’m glad that we could set the record straight.”
But, did Christopher and Kiran really “set the record straight”? JD certainly does not seem to think so.
Tags: American Morning, Carpe Diem, CNN, David Axelrod, Don Imus, FBN, FNC, Fox News, Gawker, Huffington Post, John Roberts, Kiran Chetry, Mediaite, Mediaite.com, Tommy Christopher, TV Guide
Carpe Diem 
March 22, 2011 at 9:12 pm
One of them isn’t telling the truth.
March 22, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Since I doubt he wears nail polish, Roberts was probably spinning a tale.
March 22, 2011 at 11:06 pm
What a bizarre response from John Roberts. He must be sleep deprived from those new baby twins. It was always clear they had no chemistry or respect for one another, and it’s only their desire for professional self-preservation that keeps them from ripping each other apart now that they’re no longer co-workers. It must be truly rare to find a competent news anchor who’s not a complete megalomaniac.
March 23, 2011 at 9:14 pm
Beggorah, Mr. Jakeho, Japan’s a reelin, Libya’s a rockin’, and the likes of the lovely Liz Taylor are meetin’ their demise, and yer still ravin on about Kiran? Where are ye priorities, boyo?
(exhale)
Well, thanks a million fer lettin’ me blow off a pint or two of some steam…no hard feelings, that!
April 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm
[…] that’s what happened to John Roberts’ AM e-mail, too, when he contradicted Kiran on the Imus Show a few weeks ago. Oh, wait! John probably no longer has his Turner […]