5 days ago, FTVLive told you about what many thought was a racist comment made by WFAA (Dallas) Senior Crime and Justice Reporter Rebecca Lopez was not.

While reporting live on the high-profile Karmelo Anthony trial—where an 18-year-old Black defendant was sentenced to 35 years for a 2025 fatal stabbing—Lopez attempted to describe the tension surrounding the case.

Instead of using the common idiom "the elephant in the room," Lopez paused and uttered a deeply offensive, anti-Black racial trope.

"Let's talk a little bit about the big, uh, gorilla so to speak," Lopez said on air. "There were people out here on both sides shouting racial slurs at one another."

Tegna released a statement calling it an "inappropriate idiom”. Many viewers did not buy that.

As for the staff at WFAA, they threw a surprise brunch for Lopez.