As if ABC News needed another embarrassment.
David Muir’s seeming vanity was unfortunately on full display while covering the deadly Los Angeles wildfires on Wednesday. The “World News Tonight” anchor had a tone-deaf on-air fashion faux pas when he accidentally revealed to the camera that he had clothespins cinching the back of his official-looking flame-retardant jacket for a better fit while broadcasting live during the catastrophe.
We’re told people at the network were “embarrassed and horrified” by the gaffe. Multiple insiders pointed to Muir’s Instagram account, which features the physically fit newsman regularly broodily — mugging in form-fitting T-shirts with extra short sleeves that show off his physique.
But sources also told us that the fashion world move of cinching a jacket is par for the course for one of ABC’s leading men.
A source told Page Six of the anchor: “His narcissism is quite large in the sense of this kind of thing. I like David, except for this part of him. Anderson [Cooper], [Chris] Cuomo wear all the [muscle shirts], but they would never wear this [during a wildfire].”
The insider added, “Just look at [Muir’s] Instagram.”
Another insider pointed out Muir’s uniform of a “tight black T-shirt,” when he’s out in the field. But “I’ve never seen those jackets made to look like a firefighter jacket, that matches the first responders,” they said of his ABC-branded fire outfit.
A third insider also directed us to Muir’s Instagram feed, telling us of the jacket cinch incident: “It’s pathetic. All flexed muscles and posing. He’s actually ‘Zoolander’ meets ‘Anchorman.’ He forgets he is the face of ABC News, not Abercrombie & Fitch!”
Clamping the back of — often borrowed — clothes for a more tailored silhouette isn’t unusual in broadcast TV.
Viewers, however, aren’t supposed to know or see the slick wardrobe fix that’s also popular in menswear shoots and on store mannequins.
But Muir turned during his live shot to show viewers the remains of a scorched building behind him, and unfortunately, for him, also gave a glimpse of his cinched jacket.
One insider mentioned the irony of “trying to look ‘hot’ during a fire… It’s outrageous,” they said.
“[Covering the fires] shouldn’t be about vanity. It should be about people losing their homes,” the second source said.
One ABC viewer, Hollywood rock scion Jack Osbourne, posted on X of Muir’s look on TV: “Nice Jacket Bro. Glad you look nice and svelte with those clothes line pegs, while our city burns to the ground.” He also tagged Elon Musk.
ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic, who we hear is known as Muir’s “security blanket,” was also on the scene — an unusual move for a network president, according to insiders.
Our first source contended it’s not common for a head network news honcho to accompany an anchor on a shoot — unless they’re interviewing, say, the president, or moderating a presidential debate.
Karamehmedovic was also Muir’s producer before securing the top job at ABC News.
“Almin’s excellent at field producing in these situations, and [the exec and the anchor] have a level of trust. He’s traveled with [Muir] for so many years, and [it seems] David couldn’t let him go,” the source said.
ABC says fashion is the furthest thing from Muir’s mind when it comes to reporting.
“Here’s an anchor standing in the middle of horrific wildfires where people have lost 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.”
ABC News and star anchor George Stephanopoulos recently agreed to pay President-elect Trump $16 million to settle a defamation lawsuit.
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