Canadian Lisa LaFlamme has been a reporter, journalist and news anchor for 35 years. In 2011, LaFlamme replaced then 77-year-old anchor Lloyd Robertson as anchor of CTV National News. Recently, she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best News Anchor. She has reported about natural disasters, wars, political issues and sporting events.

LaFlamme’s career ended suddenly, and it wasn’t her choice. According to LaFlamme, Bell News, the parent company of CTV, decided to terminate her and abruptly end her contract. In a video posted to Twitter, LaFlamme said she was “blindsided” by the abrupt and unexpected end to her career. She assumed that she would have many more years of reporting ahead of her. After all, she’s only 58 years old, and the anchor she replaced was 77 he when chose to retire.

There has been a lot of speculation about exactly why Bell News decided it was time for LaFlamme to retire. Many feel that it has to do with ageism and sexism. More specifically, many feel that the news company did not like it that she let her hair go gray.

During the pandemic, like many, LaFlamme decided to stop dying her hair. She never went back to dying it. She found it “liberating” to leave her hair its natural color.

According to the Globe and Mail, a senior executive at CTV News named Michael Melling wanted to know who approved LaFlamme’s decision to let her hair go gray. According to the news outlets, it was Melling who ultimately told LaFlamme Bell News was ending her contract.

In a 2-minute video posted to Twitter, LaFlamme explained that leaving CTV was not her choice. She also took the opportunity to thank her viewers and express how much she enjoyed her job, which she called “the greatest honor” of her life. She considered the video her “sign off.” Watch her say goodbye to her viewers in the video below.

Many feel that LaFlamme’s termination was not fair and tweeted their thoughts.

 

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