Leon Harris opens up about incident that ended his TV career, reports WTOP

Former NBC4 news anchor Leon Harris is opening up about his struggles with alcoholism after a very public incident that ended his TV news career, report WTOP.

Harris joined former CNN co-anchor Daryn Kagan on her Call Me Friend podcast for his first interview where he admitted he had been drinking before appearing on air.

According to WTOP, the former NBC4 anchor went viral last November on Thanksgiving Day “after a shaky news segment, with many people concerned that he was having a stroke on-air.

“Harris explained he had four hours in between shows that day, and had dinner and some glasses of wine.”

“Even at the time, I felt like I was perfectly fine,” he said.

He later realized he was more affected than he thought he was. Harris was eventually pulled off the air and sent home in an Uber.

“It was the most embarrassing thing that has ever, ever happened to me,” Harris said.

He said it was hard seeing the video of him on-air.

“It was gut-wrenching. It was like, ‘Oh, my God. I had no idea that I was that far gone,’” Harris said, adding that it made him think about how many other people he negatively impressed. “That’s something that haunts me to this day … and knowing that is on the internet and it’s still alive is something that I’ll never live down and get away from.”

After the incident, Harris says he enrolled in Recovery Village, in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where his rehabilitation included discussions with psychiatrists and counselors, and taking medications to both lessen the drive to drink, and to make him sick if he does drink alcohol.

More here.