![]() When it comes to Payne - or anybody else, for that matter - I have no idea what happens in private. Now that Payne has spoken out, just what are they ashamed of? In saying to Theo that was my sponsor too, I was letting go of some of my shame that I’ve held on to.”īefore we start handing out awards for courage and honesty, it’s worth mentioning that Channel 9 chose not to post video of Payne’s interview with Fleury on its website - a conspicuous omission that suggests her bosses are still covering up. Because he was coming clean and he was letting go of his shame. ![]() ![]() That’s why I was so happy to talk to Theo. In a subsequent interview with Tribune media columnist Phil Rosenthal, Payne again insisted she was not drunk on the air the night viewers flooded the station with calls after observing her swivel in her chair and slur her words in 2008, and said it’s been “probably five years since the last time I went on a big drinking binge.”‚ Added Payne: “There is no shame in all of this. WE SHOULD NEVER BE ASHAMED OF OURSELVES OR OUR BATTLES.” FAR TOO MANY OF US BATTLE ADDICTION IN THE DARKNESS. IT IS TRULY TROUBLING THAT THIS MISERABLE, INADEQUATE JOURNALIST TRIED TO TURN A BRIGHT MOMENT WITH MR. IN FULL DISCLOSURE, I WAS TREATED BY ADDICTION SPECIALISTS FOR CLINICAL DEPRESSION AND ALL POTENTIALLY ADDICTIVE PRESCRIPTIONS WERE TAKEN AWAY FROM ME. I WAS IN NO WAY REFERRING TO MY RECENT HEALTH PROBLEMS. I WAS REFERRING TO A 12 STEP SPONSOR I HAD NEARLY 20 YEARS AGO WHEN I SOUGHT HELP FOR WHAT I FELT WAS A DRINKING PROBLEM. DURING AN INTERVIEW WITH FORMER BLACKHAWK THEO FLEURY, I MENTIONED THAT HE AND I HAD THE SAME SPONSOR. On Facebook she wrote: “DEAR WGN VIEWERS, UNFORTUNATELY, AN IRRESPONSIBLE WRITER FOR THE CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, ROBERT FEDER, HAS TAKEN SOMETHING I SAID IN A RECENT INTERVIEW OUT OF CONTEXT. Whether her admission Thursday was deliberate or a slip of the tongue, there was no mistaking her reaction to my account of what she’d said. and then to 11 a.m., her performance and appearance on the air seemed to fluctuate day by day. newscast she’d co-anchored for 18 years and moved first to 5:30 p.m. No mention had ever been made of addiction or substance abuse of any kind.Įven after Payne, 45, was demoted in 2009 from the 9 p.m. Up until then, she and her bosses attributed everything to her recovery from a series of ministrokes and related depression. But considering Payne’s well-publicized history of slurred speech, glassy-eyed gazes and odd behavior on the air (coupled with numerous and lengthy absences from work in recent years), her revelation seemed especially pertinent. Such a confession from any other news anchor or prominent personality no doubt would have merited a headline. Payne’s comment, which I quoted verbatim, struck me as newsworthy because it marked the first time she’d publicly acknowledged a battle with addiction. During an interview with author and former NHL player Theo Fleury, Payne disclosed that she and Fleury had shared the same Alcoholics Anonymous sponsor. What was my offense? Earlier that day here, I reported on a startling admission Payne made Thursday on the midday newscast she co-anchors with Steve Sanders on Tribune Co.-owned WGN-Channel 9.
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