She told Churchill that she had not consumed any alcohol in the hours leading up to WRGB’s 6 p.m. broadcast on Saturday.
Heather Kovar.Heather Kovar Instagram
Kovar previously said in a statement that she had worked a double shift and was “sleep-deprived and exhausted” following her return from family leave after the death of her father.
She told PEOPLE this week that “it has been an exhausting time using my time off to fly to family in between shifts.”
She continued, “I was hoping to create a better situation. I just hope people will understand as I move forward in what is next.”
In an interview with Churchill she said that she thought she could “pull it off” despite being spread so thin. She explained that between her visits to family in Texas she had also been preparing for an upcoming move — including packing just before Saturday’s broadcast.
“I thought I could pull it off and didn’t realize I would look the way I did,” Kovar said. “I was disheveled because I was rushing around so much.”
“I feel very bad and embarrassed,” Kovar said. “It was a perfect storm that in the end really hurt me.”
While anchoring for CBS affiliate WRGB Saturday night, Kovar struggled to make it through the segment. She appeared to stammer when reading a script on excessive heat in Texas and later misidentified one of her colleagues.
In a statement provided toNBC Newsand theTimes Unionfollowing the broadcast, Kovar provided more context about what had been going on behind the scenes.
“I recently returned early from family leave following my dad’s death,” Kovar wrote in her statement. “On Friday, I notified the station I would not be renewing my contract which expires July 31. Saturday I was scheduled to work the early morning 6 a.m. shift and the evening shift. I was sleep-deprived and exhausted.”
Kovar told PEOPLE that because she had notified the station prior to Saturday’s incident that she would not be renewing her contract, “the situation has been amicably handled with the station.”
General manager of the station Robert Croteau told Churchill that after Saturday’s broadcast WRGB decided Kovar would no longer appear on air but would be able “to ride out her contract.”
source: people.com
