Is it possible that popular CTV news anchor Lisa LaFlamme was sacked from her prime position because of her hair? After 35 years with the network, CTV took what they are calling a "business decision" to summarily dismiss the award-winning and popular Ms. LaFlamme, who confessed to being "blindsided" and "shocked" by the decision, as were many of her fans.
Michael Melling, vice president of news at CTV (Canada's top-rated and largest privately-owned television network, being a division of Bell Media) is on record on multiple occasions as having apparent problems with 58-year old Ms. LaFlamme's decision to stop dying her hair during the pandemic and to let her natural grey out, a move lauded by many women across the country.
Melling publicly questioned who had approved the decision to "let Lisa's hair go grey", and expressed concern that it was starting to take on a purple hue under the studio lights. He seemed to be much less concerned about the greyness of previous male news anchors of a certain age, like Lloyd Robertson.
That said, Melling and LaFlamme also had some professional differences over the years, and clashed several times over stories, network priorities and the use of company resources. It actually seems more likely that these tensions were the source of the dismissal than the hair issue. But the whole thing was certainly very badly handled by CTV and Bell Media, and it has even led to boycotts of the network by disgruntled viewers.
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