In 1966, Antoine moved from WNBC to WABC-TV to report the weather during newscasts anchored by Scott Vincent. Antoine was not allowed to plug his new home on his final channel 4 broadcast. So, with Uncle Wethbee's Magic Marker in hand, he said and wrote something to the effect of: "Remember that 4 plus 3 equals 7, and that's as easy as ABC." In 1968, WABC-TV revamped all its newscasts under the banner of Eyewitness News. Its new news director, Al Primo, decreed that all the newscast's on-camera talent would wear matching blue blazers with a "circle 7" crest displayed on their jacket pockets. When Antoine, who up to that point wore smocks on the air, protested that it would affect his image, Primo retorted (as recounted in 1974 by sportswriter Frank Deford), "Either everybody wears blazers or everybody wears smocks." Antoine would thereafter wear a blazer on the air. Rape quip and final years On November 24, 1976, on the 6 p.m. broadcast, Antoine's weather report immediately followed a story about the attempted rape of an eight-year-old girl. Antoine thereupon quipped: "With rape so predominant in the news lately, it is well to remember the words of Confucius: 'If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it'." Within 25 minutes of the comment, the station received 665 calls from mostly irate women about Antoine's insensitive comment. Despite the on-air apology, WABC wasted no time suspending Antoine. Roger Grimsby and Bill Beutel led the 11 p.m. newscast that night with the official apology from WABC-TV. After the station apology, another 450 calls were made, including a quarter in favor of not suspending Antoine after making the on-air apology. The comment was not the first occurrence of controversial remarks by Antoine. In February 1974, over 100 calls were sent in for the broadcaster using a profanity on an open microphone. A day later, network executives hinted that they would probably forgive Antoine for the controversial remark. With Antoine off-air, weatherman Storm Field took the position as the evening weather forecaster. Grimsby, introducing Storm Field quipped "Lie back, relax and enjoy the weather with Storm Field." While the reaction to Grimsby's statement was not as severe as Antoine's, the impact of the statement offended women as well. The newspapers noted that Ellen Bradley, a rape victim and a secretary at the station, wrote Grimsby a stern note about making such a comment