ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir sparked a controversy while reporting on the Los Angeles wildfires, after reality TV star Jack Osbourne mocked his “pinned” fire jacket.
David, 51, was on the scene in Los Angeles on Wednesday, January 8, reporting from an area ravaged by fire.
In the clip Jack shared – a broadcast someone recorded from television – David wore a bright yellow, firefighter-style jacket, emblazoned with the ABC News logo.
David’s fire jacket appeared to be designed for journalists reporting from situations like the Palisades fire, featuring a reflective safety stripe in addition to its high visibility color.
Jack took exception to the clothespins seen on the back of David’s jacket when he turned during the broadcast, making several leaps of logic to infer that the anchor’s clothes were pinned that way to flatter his build:
After recording 15 seconds of the segment and uploading them to Twitter/X, Jack huffed: “Nice Jacket Bro. Glad you look nice and svelte with those clothes line pegs, while our city burns to the ground.”
Jack also tagged Elon Musk in the tweet, presumably in an effort to get Elon to re-tweet the clip; Elon has been very busy spreading harmful disinformation about the fires.
Fellow X users took Jack’s bait, also jumping to the conclusion that David’s priority was tailoring first, deadly wildfires second:
“That’s really funny. It’s a standard styling trick, but you’re not supposed to turn around like that.”
“Wow! He’s like, does this jacket make me look fat? Get me some clothes line pegs, stat!”
“People are losing everything they have, but I have to make sure I look good in my fake fireman’s jacket.”
One commenter described David’s fire jacket as a “fake fireman’s jacket,” as if he donned it only to create the impression he himself was fighting the Palisades fire — another easily debunked inference.
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David Muir’s Fire Jacket Is Probably Mandatory
As noted above, Twitter/X users were eager to assume the worst about David’s fire jacket and clothespins.
However, journalists covering natural disasters like wildfires aren’t just permitted to meander around affected areas, ones which are often closed off to the public.
The Oregon chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) published a resource, “Wildfire Access,” after a bill was passed in the state allowing journalists to cover wildfires on public lands.
As Oregon’s SPJ explained, the bill didn’t allow journalists to simply waltz into natural disasters, particularly fires: “In order to gain access to natural disaster scenes, journalists need to take a free, one-hour online training course provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry. This training needs to be renewed every year.”
That bill also involved mandatory standards for journalists’ personal protective equipment (PPE), and the SPJ indicated that “when a media representative doesn’t have the appropriate PPE or training certification,” their access can be revoked or denied.
Likewise, the National Interagency Fire Center (nifc.gov) shared a resource for journalists covering fires like the Palisades fire, stipulating that prior to “arriving at an incident reporters must have the proper protective equipment, or PPE,” and detailed the PPE:
- Flame resistant long sleeve shirt and trousers
- Wildland fire boots
- Leather gloves
- Helmet with chin strap
- Eye protection
- Ear protection
David’s fire jacket wasn’t a “fake fireman’s jacket,” as it appeared to be mandated PPE for a journalist covering active fires.
On January 8, NBC News shared a short reel about how reporters prepare to report from the scene of wildfires:
As for the clothespins at the back, loose-fitting attire is a long-known fire risk, so it stood to reason David’s jacket was possibly pinned back for safety reasons.
But according to Mediaite, a person familiar with the filming of the segment knew why there were clothespins on David’s jacket:
“A source familiar with Muir’s live hit said the clothespin was affixed for practical reasons.
“‘This was 30 seconds before air, a producer stepped in to try to fix coat in the wind,’ the person said. ‘This had nothing to do with David Muir asking for anything.'”
According to the unnamed source, the pinned jacket was at the producer’s discretion, not David’s — and the same high winds spreading the fires across houses and land pose a risk to people, too.