Kristi Marie Capel (born July 7, 1983) is a television newscaster from

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

Pageants and education

Capel is a native of Florence, Kentucky who later moved to

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. She competed in the Miss Missouri USA pageant in late 2005 and won. She had placed in the top fifteen of the

Miss Kentucky USA The Miss Kentucky USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Kentucky in the Miss USA pageant. It is currently directed by Proctor Productions and it was formerly directed by Connie Clark Harrison, Miss Ken ...

pageant the year previous. Capel represented

in the

Miss USA 2006 Miss USA 2006 was the 55th Miss USA pageant, held at the Royal Farms Arena in Baltimore, Maryland on April 21, 2006. Fifty-one state titleholders competed for the title, which was won by Tara Conner of Miss Kentucky USA, Kentucky. Conner was cr ...

pageant in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

in April 2006, in which she did not place. Capel graduated from Heritage Academy (a parochial school affiliated with the

Assemblies of God The World Assemblies of God Fellowship (WAGF), commonly known as the Assemblies of God (AG), is a global cooperative body or communion of over 170 Pentecostal denominations that was established on August 15, 1989. The WAGF was created to provi ...

) in Kentucky in 2001. She won a volleyball scholarship to

Evangel University Evangel University is a private Christian university and seminary in Springfield, Missouri, United States. It is affiliated with the Assemblies of God Christian denomination, which is also headquartered in Springfield. The campus sits on that ...

, a religious school affiliated with the Assemblies of God, where she completed a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...

and

Public Relations Public relations (PR) is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit organization) to the public in order to influence their perception. Pu ...

with honors in 2005.

Career

She was recently employed as a television reporter, co-anchor and weekend weather anchor on ABC affiliate

KSPR KSPR-LD (channel 33) is a low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power television station in Springfield, Missouri, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It is owned by Gray Media alongside NBC affiliate KYTV (TV st ...

Springfield 33 News. Capel also worked as a radio personality at 99 Hit FM and 1340 AM KADI during much of 2006. In January 2008, Capel accepted a job as a weather forecaster for the television station WBRE-TV in

Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Wilkes-Barre ( , alternatively or ) is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It ...

. She moved to WJW (TV) in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

on January 7, 2011. In January 2012, Capel was named Morning Co-Anchor of Fox 8 News in Morning, she replaced Tracy McCool who went to anchor Fox 8 News at 5PM. On February 23, 2015, Capel made headlines for using the term " jigaboo" in reference to

Lady Gaga Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986), known professionally as Lady Gaga, is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her image reinventions and versatility across the entertainment industry, she is an influ ...

's performance at the 87th Academy Awards. Lady Gaga performed a tribute to

Julie Andrews Dame Julie Andrews (born Julia Elizabeth Wells; 1 October 1935) is an English actress, singer, and author. She has garnered numerous accolades throughout her career spanning over eight decades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Fi ...

and ''

The Sound of Music ''The Sound of Music'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, and a book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. It is based on the 1949 memoir of Maria von Trapp, '' The Story of the Trapp Family Singers''. ...

'', with a medley of songs from the film. Of Lady Gaga's performance, Capel remarked, "Lady Gaga surprising a lot of people last night with this tribute to Sound of Music," and added that actress Julie Andrews called it "wonderful." Capel went on to say "It's hard to really hear her voice with all the jigaboo music — whatever you want to call it — jigaboo." "She has a gorgeous voice. I never knew." After the nature of the term as a

racial slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs, ethnophaulisms, or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnic, national, or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejor ...

was noted online, Capel apologized. She claimed ignorance of the word, later tweeting, "I apologize if I offended you, I had no idea it was a word or what it meant. Thank you for watching." Fox 8 news director Andy Fishman responded to the controversy saying, "Kristi apologized on the air shortly after making the remark. She did not know what the word meant but that is no excuse for using it," Fishman also said, "We have spoken with her and are confident nothing like this will happen again."

References

External links

Missouri pageant winners crowned
The Kansas City Star, 5 December 2005 (accessed 1 May 2006)
TV reporter has chance at Miss USA
News Leader, 5 December 2005 (accessed 1 May 2006)
WBRE-TV, 2008
(accessed 31 March 2008)

Miss Missouri USA website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capel, Kristi 1983 births Living people Miss USA 2006 delegates People from Florence, Kentucky Evangel University alumni