Al Roker, weather anchor of NBC's Today show, weighed in on the Jeremy Kappell controversy Wednesday morning, saying the embattled former WHEC-TV (Channel 10) meteorologist should be given another chance.

In a tweet sent shortly after a segment on Kappell's dismissal from WHEC following his on-air use of a racial slur while referring to Rochester's Martin Luther King Jr. Park, Roker said Kappell made an unfortunate flub and should be given the chance to apologize.

"Anyone who has done live TV and screwed up (Google any number of ones I've done) understands," Roker said.

Kappell, who was fired Sunday by WHEC, has maintained that he simply misspoke and was tongue-tied when he inadvertently inserted "coon" between Luther and King when discussing the park during a newscast on Friday. He was fired by WHEC on Sunday.

"This was two words I mashed together incorrectly," Kappell said. "What I said wasn't even a word, it was a sound, and people, I believe, read incorrectly into that."

During a conversation following the segment, involving Kappell, NBC News reporter Morgan Radford and fellow Today anchors Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin said he believed Kappell made an honest mistake.

"Anyone who has done this as long as we have done it on air, you flub," he said. "You make mistakes and it seems this guy made a genuine mistake."

Roker's and Melvin's statements come as online support for Kappell continues to mount. Nearly 40,000 people have signed a Change.org petition supporting him and at least one advertiser has pulled its commercials from WHEC, citing the controversy.

MCDERMOT@Gannett.com