WDIV reporter Lauren Podell resigns amidst n-word scandal

DIV reporter Lauren Podell resigned from her position at the station today, WDIV Vice President and General Manager Marla Drutz says in a company-wide email obtained by BLAC.

The email included a message from Podell, who began at WDIV in 2007 as a traffic reporter after winning a contest at a local shopping mall, to her coworkers: “During my time at WDIV I have created many friendships that I will continue to cherish.”

This week, word got out that a WDIV reporter used the word "nigger" in a conversation with another coworker, and gained momentum when Sam Riddle, a controversial former chief of staff for former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, posted the quote on Facebook. Riddle pointed to Podell as the offending reporter in various social media posts.

“I am tired of reporting on these niggers killing one another in Detroit,” Riddle’s Facebook post read.

Riddle and Reverend W.J. Rideout held a press conference earlier this week where they called for boycott of WDIV and their advertisers if the station did not release an apology.

This isn’t the first time Podell’s word choice has got her into trouble. In 2013 she made headlines for dropping an f-bomb while on-air.

No word yet if or when an apology will be issued.