Former NBC4 Washington anchor Leon Harris appeared on a podcast this week to shed light on his struggles with alcoholism and the Thanksgiving broadcast that ended his career at the station.
On Thanksgiving, Harris appeared on a live broadcast in which he was slurring his words and appeared unwell. It left many viewers concerned for his health. He went on a temporary hiatus, and months later, the station announced that he would not be returning.
On May 14, Harris appeared on the new podcast Call Me Friend, hosted by his friend and longtime CNN co-anchor Daryn Kagan. On the podcast, Harris said he was still dealing with the repercussions of that incident “professionally, domestically, personally.”
Harris, who struggled with alcoholism for years and received treatment in the past, admitted to drinking before that newscast.
“I did what I had done for probably 20 years. I had four hours between shows, so I went and had dinner and a couple glasses of wine,” Harris said. He said he didn’t realize that his tolerance had changed, and that at the time of the broadcast, “I felt like I was perfectly fine.”
“All the time I’ve been drinking … I knew where that line was. I knew when enough was enough. I knew when I was too buzzed to work or too buzzed to drive or too buzzed to do anything. I lost that ability, and I didn’t know it,” Harris said.
When viewers began calling with concerns that Harris may have been having a stroke, the station pulled him off the air. He described that as “the most embarrassing thing that has ever happened to me.”
Harris continued on the podcast to share about his experience with recovery in the following months. He checked into a rehab facility in New Jersey to receive treatment, and he has been recovering with the help of Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, SMART Recovery tactics, and medications prescribed for recovery.
He also recounted the experience of learning that he would not be returning to NBC4. After that meeting, he says he wondered what he would do next. “Whatever it is [that’s next], I’m going to do it healthy,” he said.
Harris said that the stresses of the job may have contributed to his problem. “Having that job and the status and the responsibilities that came with that may have actually been part of the reason why I was drinking,” Harris said. “That day was awful, but it may have been liberating.”
Harris had been an anchor for NBC4 for eight years and had worked in the DC area since 2003. He worked for CNN in Atlanta for 21 years before that.
Feature image courtesy NBC4
