BELL COUNTY, Texas — Bell County Judge David Blackburn said the county's new Public Information Officer resigned Thursday. A short press release said Alex Reich's resignation was effective immediately.
Reich was a morning news anchor in 2019 in Oklahoma City under the name Alex Housdon. She came under fire after she joked that her Black co-anchor looked "kind of like" a gorilla. She made a tearful apology the next morning, calling it "inconsiderate and inappropriate."
The comment came after a segment on the show about a gorilla at a zoo that was putting its face up close to a camera. Reich was not immediately fired from the station.
Reich was the first PIO Bell County had ever hired. 6 News spoke with Bell County Commissioner Russell Schneider Tuesday about her hiring. Schneider said the commission did not know about the incident when they approved her for the position.
"No sir, we were made aware of it yesterday (Monday) afternoon," Schneider said. "The County Judge has visited with all of the Commissioner's and made every Commissioner aware of the situation."
Blackburn said the commission would meet later in September to discuss filling the vacancy.
The President of the Killeen Branch of the NAACP, Taneika Moultrie, said she wasn't angry at the decision to hire Reich, just more disappointed to be stuck in this contagious cycle.
"It's really time to address it, tap into it, tune into it and find out how we, as a community, can make a change," Moultrie said.
Moultrie said the commissioner's office was also to blame. She called for them to 'wake up' and 'pay attention.'
6 News tied to reach Reich on Tuesday for comment but was told by Blackburn that she was not available to media.
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