We have learned via the Ogle Mole Network that Lance "Danger" West – the goofy and affable anchor / reporter for KFOR Channel 4 – resigned yesterday afternoon after a 23-year career at the Oklahoma City NBC news affiliate.
The resignation took the metro media scene by surprise, and came just hours after a short-lived Twitter account named "JustaGirl35" tagged @KFOR with several screenshots showing salacious private messages that West exchanged with a woman via social media.
The messages were sexually explicit, but they were also kind of tame by sex talk standards. From an employment perspective, the most damaging screenshot is this selfie (and the accompanying text) that Lance sent from the KFOR set:
Okay, I edited out that last bit of text. Let's just say Lance felt like a huge slab of granite.
The tweets from JustaGirl35 – which may also be one of Kevin Durant's burner accounts – were sent at 10:20am. They were probably online for an hour or two before the account mysteriously disappeared. By late afternoon, just before 2:00pm, word began to trickle out via the Ogle Mole Network that West had resigned.
I contacted Lance to get his side of the story. He responded with the following statement:
“I take full responsibility for a terrible lapse in judgment. I consensually exchanged inappropriate messages with one woman. This did not involve any colleague at KFOR.
Managers at News 4 have been extremely kind and supportive throughout this entire ordeal. It was my decision to resign in hopes of avoiding any additional glare on the station in which I invested a wonderful 23 years.
I love Oklahoma City. I apologize and ask for forgiveness from a community I’ve deeply disappointed. I would also appreciate everyone’s prayers and privacy as I focus on family and mending the broken trust I have created.”
Full disclosure – I don't personally know Lance West, but I've always enjoyed his work. TLO's had laughs at his expense over the years, and he's always took it in stride. He's laid back, approachable – well, probably too approachable – and seems like a nice guy. It sucks having to write about him like this. Hell, just check out his last FB message before everything went down:
That being said, you can be the nicest guy in the world, but you still can't work in the media in the Me Too age while having embarrassing dirty laundry like this be aired and still keep your job. Hopefully this is all there is to see here. We wish "Danger" the best in his effort to move on and repair the broken trust he created. Hopefully we see him on TV again sometime in the future.
