a TV channel suspected of having fired a journalist because of her hair

Lisa LaFlamme, a journalist with the Canadian channel CTV News, announced her dismissal two weeks ago. Many Internet users suspect that his age and his hair are the cause of his departure.

A gray hair at the origin of his resignation? Lisa LaFlamme, a 58-year-old Canadian journalist, announced her departure from CTV News a few weeks ago after 35 years of good and loyal service.

“I am still shocked and saddened by the decision of Bell Media (owner group of CTV News, editor’s note)”, she declared in a video massively shared on social networks.

Very well known to Canadians, the journalist immediately received a wave of support on the web. Several Internet users subsequently accused the channel of “sexism” and “ageism” towards its former collaborator who had recently made an important decision.

Wave of support

During the health crisis, the journalist had chosen to assume and display her gray hair on the air, an initiative well received by viewers. If she does not mention her hair change as the reason for her dismissal, the timing chosen by the antenna for it has aroused the suspicions of Internet users.

“It has also raised questions about whether she is not another woman on the list of countless people who have faced sexism and ageism in the TV news industry,” it read. on Radio Canada.

Many women then took pictures of themselves on social networks, with gray hair, to support the journalist-presenter. Several brands such as the Wendy’s fast food chain or the Dove cosmetics brand have even shown their support for people with gray hair.

The company, for its part, refers to a “financial decision” linked to a “change in viewer habits” and denies that hair color has anything to do with this decision. The story was so talked about that Bell Media Group Chairman Mirko Bibic said in a statement he was “convinced” that the presenter’s hair, gender or age had been irrelevant in his dismissal.