News Anchor Michelle Li Tells Ellen How A Viewer’s Racist Voicemail Became A ‘Gift’
19.01.2022 - 16:57
/ etcanada.com
KSDK news anchor Michelle Li from St. Louis, Missouri, joins “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” Wednesday.
Li recently hit headlines after responding to a racist voicemail she received from a viewer, who criticized her for saying she eats dumpling soup on New Year’s Eve.
The woman in question, whom the journalist has not named, left her a message calling her “very Asian” and insisting she should “keep her Korean to herself.”
READ MORE: Freestyle Rapper Harry Mack Raps About ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show”s Most Memorable Moments
Li talks about the experience with DeGeneres and shares the “roller-coaster” of emotions she felt after hearing the voicemail for the first time.
She insists she thought it was an “inclusive” moment at first after receiving an array of positive messages, before adding of the woman’s criticism: “You ride a roller-coaster of emotions… the first one was shock. Like ‘What in the world?’ You know?
“But then it just started getting really heavy. Like I started going back to my childhood… all these things that people have said to me. So when I got the voicemail I just felt like, ‘Is this my life now? Am I just going to deal with this and is my son going to be like this?'”
READ MORE: Ellen DeGeneres Talks To TikToker Who Turned A Bobby Pin Into A House In Just 28 Trades
Li adds of how the experience then became a “gift”: “My phone started blowing up and it just felt like the world saw it and the world stood up to it. Who gets to say that the world stood up for you in a moment?”
She even called the woman and asked to have a chat if she wanted to, with Li sharing how the lady actually called back.
She tells DeGeneres: “It was interesting… the most important thing is she apologized. I accepted,” insisting