TJ Holmes and Amy Robach Defend David Muir After Clothespin Backlash

TJ Holmes a Amy Rob protects David Muir after it received widespread backlash for using a clothespin on his flame retardant jacket while reporting on the Los Angeles wildfires.

Holmes, 47, and Robach, 51, who used to work with Muir at ABC, gave their perspective on the incident during the Friday, January 10 episode of their podcast, “Does This Make Me Look Fat?”

Muir, 51, came under fire when viewers saw the clothespin cinch his jacket during a live crossover on Wednesday, January 8 and accused him of caring more about how he looked on TV than the natural disaster he was witnessing. to report

Holmes defended Muir against that accusation, claiming the news anchor might not even be aware of it the existence of the clothespins.

“Perspective may be lost if you only read tweets. Maybe the perspective is lost in that, often times — and I don’t know if it does — traveling with a producer or even a wardrobe person whose job is — you might be looking at your phone, in getting up to date, looking at notes or doing something, and people are pulling and plugging things for you, the mic and the IFB (in-ear monitor) and all these things,” Holmes explained. “You not yet age knows what’s happening to you, and someone could have made the decision of ‘Let me do this with the jacket.’ We don’t know.”

Holmes said that despite using clothespins, he believed Muir was extremely active.

He continued: “But just a bit of context, the man is working his butt. You don’t like what he did, okay. It’s a lot to pile on.”

However, Holmes admitted that it looked bad for a TV journalist to be caught worrying about superficial aspects when reporting on an event where people have lost their lives and their homes.

“The idea that people — even if in the middle of a tragedy — are about to anchor a main evening broadcast that doesn’t give a damn about how they look is unreasonable. Now to what extent they should care is the issue and to what extent they should come off so that they care then is a separate issue, but of course he has to care and pay attention to how it looks before for it to go on TV,” Holmes said. “But if your house was on fire and you see a guy over there with a mirror brushing his hair doing all this before he goes on air and reports your tragedy, that’s going to let down.”

Meanwhile, Robach admitted that when she was reporting from the road, she usually made a concerted effort not to appear too “glamorous” for this reason by keeping her hair and makeup simple.

“I have taken great care as a journalist not to appear as if I care about how I look in that moment,” he said. “We all look at the scene of these kinds of tragedies differently than we do on set. On set, we have hair and make-up and nice suits and fitted clothes, but when you’re out there, it’s a very different environment.”

Robach also defended Muir against the heated backlash he has been receiving and said he did not believe he deserved it.

“I don’t think he deserves the hate he gets… I don’t think that’s fair or appropriate in any way – and especially from people who have never had to be on TV every a day where your image, your looks are constantly being criticized or recognized so you may be very aware of that,” he said.

Check the LAFD website for local wildfire warnings and click here for resources on how to help those affected.