Sue Simmons on on LX New York with fellow guest Andy Cohen, discussing her former drinking days

Sue Simmons, the WNBC-4 anchor who gained infamy for using the F-bomb on live television almost two years before Jenny Slate, confessed last week on WNBC’s new show LX New York that in the 80′s it wasn’t unusual for her to show up to work a little bit tipsy. According to Simmons, “…that stopped in the mid ’80s, late ’80s, because I looked in the mirror before — when I was about ready to go on the air — and my eyes were red.”

When the video of Simmons cursing on air surfaced in the spring of 2008, The New York Post was quick to jump on the theory that Simmons might still be boozing behind her desk. The Post culled its interviewees from employees of the restaurants where Simmons frequented before the show, where they remarked (anonymously, of course) that Simmons wasn’t shy about her drinking habits before heading off to work at Channel 4.

That would seem to go against Simmons’ current statement that she hasn’t had a drink before work for years, and unfortunately this belated confession with alleged evidence to the contrary serves to strengthen what was originally just a gossip-based Post piece.

Full video of Simmons’ on-air swearing and apology after the jump. NSFW language, obviously.

Sue Simmons Admits to Drinking-and-Anchoring During the ’80s –New York Observer