From on-air meltdowns to embarrassing blunders, live television has given us some truly unforgettable moments. Join us as we count down the most jaw-dropping disasters that happened while the cameras were rolling! Our list includes awkward falls, technical failures, shocking interruptions, and those cringe-worthy moments that made viewers collectively gasp.
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00:00I'm Geraldo Rivera, and you're about to witness a live television event.
00:03Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks
00:07for the worst blunders to have occurred on live TV.
00:10Are we back? Are we back?
00:14For this list, we'll be focusing more on funny or interesting snafus
00:18rather than legitimate tragedies.
00:21Number 30, the 2024 presidential debate.
00:25With the COVID, excuse me, with dealing with everything we have to do with,
00:32look, if we finally beat Medicare.
00:38Thank you, President Biden. President Trump?
00:41Well, he's right. He did beat Medicare. He beat it to death.
00:43No matter which side you're on, the presidential debate of June 27, 2024 was a disaster,
00:50and historians will be studying it for decades to come.
00:54Trump was Trump, self-aggrandizing and pouring forth his typical flurry of falsehoods
00:59and misleading statements. And Joe Biden was little more than a zombie,
01:04delivering mumbly, incoherent answers, and often staring into the distance with his mouth agape.
01:10It was a rather pitiful display by both parties, and the public response was swift,
01:15with most outlets and pundits calling it a national embarrassment.
01:19We're not saying this debate is what caused the Democrats to lose the election,
01:23but, well, yeah, it probably was.
01:26And I'm going to continue to move until we get the total ban on the total initiative
01:32relative to what we're going to do with more border patrol and more asylum officers.
01:37President Trump?
01:38I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence.
01:41I don't think he knows what he said either.
01:42Number 29, a drunk Bill Murray.
01:45You know, I think you're doing great.
01:50Do you remember?
01:51When he said, would you come? It wasn't a question.
01:54The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell is a serious political show that airs on MSNBC,
01:59so it was rather odd when Bill Murray quite literally stumbled onto the set.
02:04Murray was on Letterman earlier that day, on which he did a number of vodka shots.
02:08Then he went out to dinner and had some wine.
02:11Then, apparently deciding that he wanted to talk politics, he wandered over to the NBC lot
02:17and barged onto the O'Donnell set completely uninvited.
02:21The people on the show look quite confused, even a little irate, as the actor tumbles off chairs,
02:27interrupts everyone, and slurs out messy sentences.
02:31Luckily, this is Bill Murray we're talking about here, so we don't mind too much.
02:35I just did the Letterman show, then went to dinner, had oysters, rosé wine,
02:40red wine, and duck, and uh...
02:43And red wine.
02:44Green grass, uh, fed hanger steak, and then rushed here to do your show.
02:49Number 28. The Chevy Chase Show
02:52What's the matter, Senor Luigi? You look a little nervous.
02:54I'm very nervous.
02:56Have you had anything to eat today?
02:57No.
02:58First night opening night jitters, huh?
03:00Yeah.
03:00Did you know that Chevy Chase had his own talk show?
03:03We'll forgive you if you didn't, as it only lasted six weeks.
03:07Chase signed a $3 million contract with Fox,
03:10who hoped that the famous comedian would carry them for years.
03:13It was a disaster from the start.
03:16Chase was an awful host, stiff and awkward with his guests,
03:19and the show was filled with cringeworthy skits and terrible monologues that consistently failed
03:24to land.
03:25The oversized desk and awkwardly spaced furniture only added to the uncomfortable atmosphere.
03:32Fox, realizing that it was beyond saving and tired of being the national laughingstock,
03:37axed the show after just 29 episodes.
03:41And that's how Chevy Chase made the worst talk show in television history.
03:44Please, please, sit down.
03:51Hey, if I knew you were going to be this enthusiastic, I would have rehearsed.
03:56Number 27. Gemma Collins Falls Through a Trap Door
04:00Tina Wolf, the best TV show is...
04:04Reality star and podcast host, Gemma Collins,
04:07partook in the 2017 BBC Radio 1's Teen Awards,
04:11presenting the trophy for best TV show, Love Island, by the way.
04:16Shortly after declaring the winner,
04:17Collins turned and fell straight through an open trap door.
04:28Luckily, she was not hurt.
04:29In fact, she even laughed it off.
04:31The plan was for the trap door to open and the show's stars to emerge from the stage.
04:36The BBC claims that Collins received a full briefing about the plan,
04:40so maybe she just got caught up in the excitement and forgot.
04:44Still, it seems like some safety precautions should have been put in place here.
04:48Number 26. First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy
04:52I'm with my two lovely ladies. Girls, what's your resolution for 2013?
04:57Um, to, um, just get rid of all my haters.
05:01All your haters? Can I ask you something? Do you like white boys?
05:05Many outlets have described First Night 2013 with Jamie Kennedy as,
05:10quote, the worst New Year's Eve special ever. It's not hard to see why.
05:14Aired on local channel KDOC-TV, the special was hosted by Jamie Kennedy
05:19and was a complete, unmitigated disaster that reeked of cheapness.
05:24The show was riddled with terrible audio and production issues,
05:28and many people appeared to be heavily intoxicated,
05:31which only added to the special's surreal atmosphere.
05:34They couldn't even get the countdown right, ringing in the New Year a full 10 seconds late,
05:38because Kennedy couldn't find a clock. Like, seriously, guys?
05:42And then the show ended with an unscripted fight on stage, because of course it did.
05:46God bless you and we'll see you in 2024!
05:50Good night!
05:51Bye! There's a fight. It's ending with a fight.
05:54Number 25. The Blackout Bowl
05:57Welcome back to New Orleans. This is Steve Tasker,
05:59sideline reporter for the Super Bowl XLVII. If you're expecting to hear our friend Jim Nance,
06:05maybe a moment before he gets on, half the power in New Orleans Stadium, the Superdome here, is out.
06:12The Super Bowl is arguably the biggest night of the year,
06:15so you'd think the hosting stadium would have their power system figured out.
06:19You'd certainly think!
06:21Super Bowl XLVII took place on February 3rd, 2013, with the Ravens playing the 49ers.
06:27Shortly into the third quarter, the lights in the stadium went out, the result of a tripped relay.
06:32The game was delayed for a full half hour as the stadium's management figured out the situation
06:37and attempted to get the lights back on. It was a total mess, and many people even suspected a
06:42conspiracy as the 49ers were able to stage a partial comeback following the gigantic break.
06:48As linebacker Ray Lewis asked, quote,
06:51You're a zillion dollar company and your lights go out?
06:54Well, not much new to report, JB. The lights went out and now they're trying to get them back on.
06:59Some players are stretching, some are not.
07:04And as a favor, I'd like to ask you not to come back to me because I have nothing to add.
07:08Back to you, JB.
07:09Number 24. And boom goes the dynamite.
07:12Later he gets the rebound, passes it to the man, shoots it, and boom goes the dynamite.
07:16Poor Brian Collins is never gonna live this one down.
07:20In 2005, Collins was a student at Indiana's Ball State University, and on this particular day,
07:26he was taking over from the regular sportscaster on the campus' independent news program.
07:31He was tasked with covering a recent NBA game between the Pacers and Nets,
07:36but the teleprompter went too fast, forcing Collins to ad-lib.
07:40What follows next is the stuff of internet legend.
07:43The disastrous broadcast became one of the earliest viral videos,
07:47being shared far and wide for Collins' humorous attempts at sportscasting.
07:52Attempts being the operative word here.
07:55At least he gave us some legendary laughs and a legendary catchphrase.
07:59Okay, great. Thanks a lot for that look in sports, Brian.
08:02Yeah.
08:03And when we come back, we'll have one final look at weather. Stay tuned.
08:06Number 23. Kanye West goes off.
08:09I hate the way they betray us in the media. If you see a Black family,
08:14it says they're looting. See a white family, it says they're looking for food.
08:19And you know it's been five days because most of the people are Black.
08:25On September 2nd, 2005, a bunch of celebrities got together to host a
08:29benefit concert for Hurricane Katrina. The broadcast largely went off without a hitch.
08:35That is, except for Kanye West's segment, because he of course veered off script.
08:40West was presenting with Mike Myers when he ad-libbed a lengthy statement about
08:44the portrayal of Black individuals in the media.
08:47He then ended with one of the most famous statements in live TV history.
08:51Destruction of the spirit of the people of southern Louisiana and Mississippi
08:54may end up being the most tragic loss of all.
08:57George Bush doesn't care about Black people. Please call.
09:02Equally as famous are the reactions of both Mike Myers and Chris Tucker,
09:06both of whom give the most what-the-hell-bro faces possible.
09:10Even if you acknowledge the veracity of what West said,
09:13we can all agree that this probably wasn't the time or place to say it.
09:17Number 22. A magic trick gone wrong.
09:20A magic trick didn't go quite as planned on live TV in Poland.
09:24Here's an idea. Maybe don't do magic tricks involving giant sharp nails on live TV.
09:30You might traumatize a few kids.
09:33Questions for Breakfast is a Polish variety show hosted by Marzena Rogalska,
09:38who on this particular episode was asked to be a guinea pig in a magic trick
09:42performed by Marcin Poloniewicz.
09:45The magician places a giant nail under one of four paper bags
09:49and proceeds to slam Rogalska's hand into the bags.
09:52It seems to be one of those tricks that mixes magic with legitimate danger,
09:56and well, you can probably guess what happens.
09:59Rogalska was quickly ushered out of the studio and taken to a hospital.
10:03Luckily, she was okay.
10:08Number 21. Reading out the wrong names.
10:12It was a mistake. A prank on an American TV station that has angered South Koreans.
10:18That's a nice way of saying falling for a mean-spirited and racist prank.
10:23On July 6, 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crashed at San Francisco International Airport,
10:31killing three people and injuring nearly 200.
10:35Local San Francisco channel KTVU were reporting on the crash when they fell for a horrible prank.
10:41Anchor Tori Campbell was reading out the supposed names of the pilots.
10:45Only these names had been replaced by racist puns related to the crash.
10:50No one knows who is personally responsible for the prank,
10:53but the National Transportation Safety Board has admitted that an intern
10:57confirmed these names to the station.
11:00The intern was fired in the wake of the controversial broadcast,
11:03as were three producers at the station.
11:06I thought it was absolutely absurd because it's a professional entity,
11:11and if it was among our friends and everyone, it would be fine.
11:16It would be funny, but then if it's broadcast, it's something different.
11:23Back in the early 50s, ABC aired a live sci-fi anthology show called Tales of Tomorrow.
11:36Each episode was broadcast as it happened, so naturally, there were a few disasters.
11:44One such blunder came in the first season episode Frankenstein.
11:48Legendary actor Lon Chaney Jr. played the monster, only he wasn't very good.
11:54Chaney broke character and refused to destroy the props.
11:58Instead, he mimed the actions and gently placed the furniture on the ground.
12:03According to Chaney's biographer Don Smith, the actor had been drinking,
12:08and falsely believed that he was conducting a rehearsal,
12:11hence the breaking of character and ginger treatment of the props.
12:15Chaney later admitted that he thought it was a dress rehearsal,
12:18but he denied that he was drunk.
12:21What did I do wrong? What did I overlook?
12:24I am completely responsible, Matthew.
12:26Number 19. Al Capone's Vault
12:29This was the television event of the 80s, and it all came to a big, hilarious nothing.
12:36Construction companies found secret rooms before beginning to renovate
12:40Chicago's Lexington Hotel, which once housed legendary gangster Al Capone.
12:45A massive concrete vault has been discovered.
12:48Some think it belonged to none other than the notorious Al Capone.
12:52Well tonight, for the first time, that vault is going to be open live.
12:56Naturally, people believed that these rooms may house
12:59valuable objects once belonging to Capone's organization.
13:03Recently fired reporter Geraldo Rivera then hosted The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults,
13:09which hoped to reveal the chamber's contents on live television.
13:13The event was heavily advertised and watched by 30 million people.
13:18The IRS was even on scene to scoop up Capone's giant pile of hidden money.
13:23Except, there was no pile of money.
13:26In fact, there was nothing at all.
13:28The live special deflated like a balloon
13:30and immediately entered the annals of live TV disasters.
13:35Chicago, Chicago, that's Holland Town.
13:38All right, I'm gone. I'll see ya.
13:40Good night. I'm sorry. See ya next time.
13:42Number 18. Madonna's Brit Awards Fall
13:46Hey, accidents happen, even to the biggest entertainers on the planet.
13:50But the thing is, when I pulled that time, it didn't come undone.
13:54It went into a knot.
13:56And yes, ooh. I think that should be a bigger ooh.
14:00Madonna showed up at the 2015 Brit Awards to perform her new song,
14:04Living for Love.
14:06This being Madonna, the performance was expertly choreographed
14:09and featured a fun wardrobe change.
14:12Only it didn't go so well.
14:14The plan was to have a black cape ripped from Madonna's back,
14:18revealing her sparkly black and red outfit underneath.
14:21Unfortunately, this cape was fastened too firmly around her neck,
14:26and when one of the dancers ripped it from her back, she came with it.
14:30Madonna fell off the stairs, hit her head on the stage,
14:33and ultimately suffered whiplash.
14:35But she continued the performance as if nothing happened.
14:39Now, that's a consummate pro.
14:41There was a man standing over me with a flashlight till about 3 a.m.
14:45making sure that I was still copacentous.
14:47And presumably-
14:48And I'm not, clearly, because I couldn't remember the words to my song.
14:50Number 17.
14:52Milli Vanilli ruined their own careers.
14:54German R&B group Milli Vanilli were extremely popular in the late 80s,
14:59winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist
15:02and scoring five Top 5 hits in the United States.
15:09But everything started crashing down on July 21st, 1989.
15:13During a live performance on MTV,
15:15their hit song, Girl You Know It's True, began to skip,
15:19indicating that they had been lip-syncing.
15:25I wanted to die.
15:26Furthermore, a man named Charles Shaw came forward
15:30and declared that he'd sung on their debut album,
15:32not the credited Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus.
15:36This accusation, plus the disastrous live TV performance,
15:40eventually culminated in the truth.
15:42Morvan and Pilatus were imposters.
15:45The two performers involved, Rob Pilatus and Fab Morvan,
15:49released a statement claiming they were actually prevented
15:52from singing by their own producer.
15:54They were fired by music producer Frank Farian
15:57and Milli Vanilli quickly disappeared from the public consciousness.
16:01We were famous, now we're infamous.
16:03Just like that.
16:04Number 16.
16:05Ashley Simpson dances offstage.
16:08Poor Ashley Simpson.
16:09She's never gonna live this one down.
16:12Back in October of 2004,
16:14Simpson appeared as the musical guest on SNL
16:16in support of her debut autobiography.
16:19Once again, Ashley Simpson.
16:24She performed both Pieces of Me and the album's title song.
16:28Well, she performed Pieces of Me.
16:30When the music began for Autobiography,
16:33the pre-recorded vocals of Pieces of Me
16:35played over the speakers instead.
16:37Panicked and not knowing what else to do,
16:40Simpson awkwardly danced off the stage
16:42and left her musicians to fend for themselves.
16:45Both the lip-syncing and the singer's reaction
16:48received enormous backlash,
16:50and the incident was widely parodied.
17:01Number 15.
17:03The Max Headroom incident.
17:04It was November 22nd, 1987,
17:07and thousands of Chicagoans were hunkering down
17:10to watch some TV.
17:12At 9.14 p.m., WGN-TV was airing the news
17:16when their signal was hijacked.
17:18Instead of sports clips,
17:20the TV now showed a person in a Max Headroom costume
17:23rocking back and forth.
17:29This lasted almost 20 seconds.
17:32A few hours later at 11.20,
17:34WTTW's airing of Doctor Who
17:37was interrupted by seemingly the same person.
17:40This was a far more complex hijacking.
17:42It lasted about a minute and a half
17:44and contained talking, singing,
17:47crude props, middle fingers,
17:49and even a bear behind.
17:57This was the 80s version of trolling,
17:59and the trolls got away with everything.
18:01Despite an investigation,
18:03no one was able to find the source of the hijacking.
18:1114. BBC interviews the wrong guy
18:16This could very well be the funniest blunder
18:19ever seen on national television.
18:21On May 8th, 2006,
18:23tech expert Guy Cuny was scheduled
18:26to interview live on the BBC
18:28concerning a recent court case involving Apple.
18:31However, the staff mixed him up with Guy Goma,
18:33a business graduate who happened to be interviewing
18:36at the BBC on the same day.
18:38Well, Guy Cuny is the editor of the technology website
18:41News Wireless.
18:43Hello, good morning to you.
18:44Goma was ushered on stage,
18:46quickly wired up,
18:47and soon launched into a live interview
18:49with host Karen Bowerman.
18:51When I came, they told me something else,
18:53and I'm coming.
18:54You got an interview,
18:56so it's a big surprise anyway.
18:57A big surprise.
18:58Exactly.
18:59Yeah, yeah.
19:00Goma tried his best to answer the questions,
19:02but it was very obvious that something was off,
19:04especially considering the shocked reaction
19:07that Goma conveys at the beginning of the interview.
19:09And the worst part of it all,
19:11he wasn't even hired.
19:12This does really seem to be
19:14the way the music industry is progressing now,
19:16that people want to go onto the website
19:18and download music.
19:20Exactly.
19:21You can go everywhere.
19:23Number 13,
19:24the Battle of Bramall Lane.
19:26This 2002 soccer game
19:28was between West Bromwich Albion
19:31and Sheffield United.
19:32United goalkeeper Simon Tracy
19:34was given a red card less than 10 minutes in,
19:37prompting manager Neil Warnock
19:39to make a substitution.
19:41Misjudgment and a real chance for Doby,
19:42and that's a handball outside the area
19:44of which there is no question,
19:46and I wonder if a red card is on its way.
19:48It is.
19:49He later made two more for strategic purposes.
19:52Managers are only given three substitutions per game,
19:55so he was now unable to add new players.
19:58What followed was a pure comedy of errors.
20:01Two players were kicked out
20:02for physically attacking their opponents,
20:04and two others were taken out with injuries.
20:07This left United with just six men,
20:10less than the seven allotted by the rules.
20:12The referee was forced to end the match
20:14for this infraction,
20:15making this English football history's only game
20:18to end on a player shortage.
20:21You got in the showers
20:22and then you realize people coming down the car park,
20:24the media attention.
20:25It's never happened before to be a game abandoned,
20:28so it's not ideal to have been involved in it.
20:30Number 12,
20:31the Balloon Boy Hoax.
20:33Live TV is fascinating.
20:35You can follow a national news story in real time,
20:38and you can also watch it deflate in an instant.
20:41On October 15th, 2009,
20:43the country watched and raptured
20:45as a gas balloon floated through the air
20:47with a six-year-old boy supposedly trapped inside.
20:50What you all see right there
20:52is an experimental aircraft
20:56that inside of which is a six-year-old boy.
20:59However, the boy was later found
21:01in the attic of his home,
21:02prompting allegations of a hoax.
21:04This was seemingly confirmed
21:06during a live interview with Wolf Blitzer
21:08when the boy said his family,
21:10quote,
21:10did this for the show.
21:12We did this for the show.
21:18A law enforcement affidavit later concluded
21:20that the parents had planned the hoax
21:22in an attempt to drum up interest
21:24for future media interests.
21:26The Heen family continues to deny
21:28that it was a hoax.
21:29It was never a hoax.
21:30Not once, not ever.
21:31Number 11,
21:32Steve Harvey's Famous Bungle.
21:34Steve Harvey may be a consummate professional,
21:37but he will always be remembered
21:38for a simple bungle.
21:40At the conclusion of Miss Universe in 2015,
21:43Steve Harvey declared Colombia's
21:45Ariadna Gutierrez the winner.
21:52However, he awkwardly bumbled his way back on stage
21:55and told the crowd that he'd messed up.
21:58Gutierrez was actually the first runner-up
22:00and the Philippines Pia Wurtzbach
22:02was the real winner.
22:04The first runner-up is Colombia.
22:14Harvey had gotten confused
22:16while reading the results
22:17as first was located beside Gutierrez's name.
22:20The mistake made headline news
22:22became an internet sensation
22:24and continues to haunt Harvey to this day.
22:27This is exactly what's on the card.
22:31I will take responsibility for this.
22:33Just 14 months later,
22:35Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway
22:37took some of the heat off Harvey
22:39by announcing the wrong Best Picture winner
22:41at the 89th Academy Awards.
22:43Number 10,
22:44Mariah Carey's New Year's Show.
22:46On December 31st, 2016,
22:49Mariah Carey joined Ashley Simpson
22:51in the cringy,
22:52I don't know what I'm doing,
22:53just get me the heck out of here,
22:54Hall of Fame.
22:55The legend was set to perform Emotions
22:58and We Belong Together
22:59on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
23:01with Ryan Seacrest
23:02when she experienced
23:03some unfortunate technical difficulties.
23:06During the first track,
23:07she reportedly couldn't hear the backing track
23:09and instead of soldiering on,
23:11she just sort of ambled about the stage.
23:13Carey talked in a passive-aggressive manner
23:15to the audience
23:16while her dancers continued as planned
23:19and the odd whistle note
23:20emanated from the speakers.
23:22The second performance meanwhile
23:24could be described as an entertaining
23:26but hilarious mess.
23:28I mean and I know how good they are at their job,
23:30so my reaction was
23:31she was working with the best.
23:32I find it hard to believe that
23:34they made big mistakes that night.
23:37Number nine,
23:38Flaming Arrows.
23:39Can you promise you won't be mad at me
23:41if I kill you?
23:42Sure, I promise that.
23:44During a live quarterfinals performance
23:46on America's Got Talent,
23:47stuntman Ryan Stock
23:49swallowed a steel rod
23:50with a target attached to the end.
23:52This target poked out of his mouth
23:54and was supposed to be shot
23:55with a flaming arrow
23:56by his fiancée Amberlynn Walker.
23:59This seems like a bad idea,
24:00not only from a safety standpoint
24:02but a live TV standpoint as well.
24:05A stunt like this can go catastrophically wrong
24:08and it nearly did.
24:15The flaming arrow ended up
24:16pegging Stock in the throat
24:18causing him to grimace in pain
24:19and quickly pat away any potential flames.
24:22The judges and audience
24:24watched the stage in silent worry
24:26before host Nick Cannon
24:27assured everyone that Stock was okay.
24:30Number eight,
24:31Kanye West interrupts Taylor Swift.
24:34Kanye West thought that Beyoncé had
24:36one of the best videos of all time.
24:38Well, we think this is one of the most
24:40unforgettable live TV disasters of all time.
24:44It was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
24:47and Taylor Swift had just won
24:49for You Belong With Me.
24:50By winning,
24:51she beat out Beyoncé's iconic
24:53single ladies video.
24:54As Swift accepted her award,
24:56West infamously stormed the stage,
24:59grabbed the mic from her hand,
25:01and claimed that Beyoncé should have won.
25:03He probably expected cheers
25:05but got boos instead,
25:07prompting him to turn
25:08and make an obscene gesture at the crowd.
25:11It was an incredibly shocking moment
25:13that even earned the attention
25:15of President Barack Obama,
25:16who called West a not-so-nice name.
25:20Number seven,
25:21Anthea Turner's incident.
25:23Back in the late 80s,
25:25TV presenter Anthea Turner
25:27was hosting a live children's program
25:29called Up To You.
25:30Turner was on location reporting
25:32on a pageant conducted
25:33by the British Armed Forces.
25:35And Anthea, well, she's got the roving eye
25:37down at the Royal Tournament in Earl's Court.
25:38A motorcycle stunt was planned
25:40for Turner's story,
25:41but miscommunication resulted
25:43in a horrible accident.
25:45As Turner was sitting on the back of a truck,
25:47the pyrotechnics exploded in her face
25:49and set her on fire.
25:51The person who was cuing the motorbike
25:54mistook my cue to speak
25:57as the cue to ask the motorbike
26:00to fly out of the back of the van.
26:02And of course, I'm still sitting on the tailgate.
26:04Families watching from home
26:05were understandably shocked and frightened
26:07as they did not know
26:08the extent of Turner's injuries.
26:11She ended up suffering numerous burns
26:13and temporary hearing loss,
26:14and she successfully sued the BBC.
26:17A few minutes ago,
26:18you might have just seen something
26:19a bit dangerous happen to Anthea.
26:21Just here to say she's okay.
26:23She's just gone to first aid,
26:24and she's going to have a nice hot cup of tea
26:26because she's got some shock.
26:27Number six,
26:28the Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction.
26:30An infamous piece of TV history
26:32occurred on the night of February 1st, 2004,
26:35also known as Super Bowl 38.
26:37As everyone knows,
26:38Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off
26:41the outer layer of Janet Jackson's shirt
26:43while performing a dance move,
26:45briefly revealing more than intended.
26:47This instigated a national discussion,
26:50the likes of which has rarely been seen
26:52before or since.
26:53It was front page news across the country,
26:55with some calling it
26:56an indecent act of American immorality.
26:59If each CBS station ends up having to pay,
27:01fines could reach the millions.
27:03Janet Jackson ended up blacklisted
27:05by many radio stations
27:07and television music channels.
27:08It also led to the creation of YouTube
27:10and added the term wardrobe malfunction
27:13to the Merriam-Webster's dictionary.
27:15Talk about an unforgettable halftime show.
27:17Do you think people were too hard on you?
27:23I think they were.
27:24I think they did put all the emphasis on me.
27:27Number five,
27:28Sinead O'Connor rips up a photo on SNL.
27:32Sinead O'Connor was once
27:33the biggest name in music.
27:35Her single,
27:36Nothing Compares to You,
27:37was especially successful,
27:39topping the Hot 100 for four weeks
27:41and being named 1990s
27:43number one world single by Billboard.
27:46But then her career essentially came to a halt
27:48on the night of October 3rd, 1992.
27:51She was performing Bob Marley's War
27:53on Saturday Night Live
27:54when she ripped up a picture
27:56of Pope John Paul II.
27:58Fight the real enemy.
28:01The move was meant to protest abuse
28:03within the Catholic church,
28:04but it only got O'Connor into heaps
28:06and heaps of trouble.
28:08NBC received thousands of complaints
28:11and other celebrities,
28:12including Joe Pesci and Madonna,
28:14viciously criticized her actions.
28:17I mean, why should I let it bother me, right?
28:19It wasn't my show,
28:20it was Tim Robbins' show.
28:21And that was pretty much it
28:22for Sinead O'Connor,
28:24at least as a chart-topping pop star.
28:27Number four,
28:28Malice at the Palace.
28:30Injuries notwithstanding,
28:31the Battle of Bramall Lane
28:33was borderline comedic.
28:35Malice at the Palace was,
28:36well, malicious.
28:37In my head,
28:38I'm like,
28:39you're done.
28:40There's no way you might not have a play again.
28:44So start thinking about something else.
28:46This was a basketball game
28:47between the Detroit Pistons
28:48and the Indiana Pacers.
28:50With less than 46 seconds left in the game,
28:53Pacer Ron Artest fouled Piston Ben Wallace.
28:57Wallace's physical response
28:59to Artest's act resulted in a brawl.
29:02The fight was brief,
29:03but then someone in the crowd
29:04threw a drink at Artest,
29:06prompting him to storm into the stands.
29:08He attacked who he thought was the thrower,
29:11when in reality,
29:12this person was innocent.
29:13People attempted to pull Artest off the man.
29:16The situation escalated to include spectators,
29:19and before long,
29:20all hell had broken loose.
29:22The police intervened,
29:23and numerous people were charged with assault,
29:26including players and fans alike.
29:34Number three,
29:35The World Series Earthquake.
29:37The 1989 World Series
29:39is perhaps the most famous of the modern era.
29:42Not because of the games,
29:43but because of what happened before one.
29:45Shortly after the pregame ceremony
29:47began for game three,
29:48the Loma Prieta earthquake
29:50struck San Francisco's Candlestick Park,
29:53interrupting the video feed
29:54and distracting sportscasters
29:56Tim McCarver and Al Michaels.
30:02Viewers at home were met with loud static,
30:04a technical difficulties graphic,
30:06and the creepy sound of screaming fans.
30:09Luckily,
30:10no one within the stadium was injured,
30:12despite its extensive shaking.
30:14In fact,
30:14the game is credited with saving lives,
30:16as people usually on the roads
30:18were either at the game
30:19or watching from their homes.
30:26Number two,
30:27Richard Belzer and Hulk Hogan.
30:30Back in the mid 80s,
30:31actor Richard Belzer
30:32hosted a cable talk show
30:34called Hot Properties
30:35To promote the first Wrestlemania,
30:38Belzer hosted the event's marquee stars,
30:40Hulk Hogan and Mr. T.
30:42Belzer asked Hogan
30:43to demonstrate a wrestling move,
30:45so Hogan put him in a chin lock.
30:47However, Hogan took the bit a little too far
30:50and ended up knocking Belzer unconscious.
30:56He then dropped the limp Belzer to the ground.
30:59Belzer played it off after waking up,
31:01but it was obvious that he had been hurt.
31:06Belzer later sued Hogan
31:10for an undisclosed amount.
31:12He bought a farmhouse in France
31:14with the proceeds,
31:15which he named Shea Hogan.
31:23Before we continue,
31:24be sure to subscribe to our channel
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31:31for occasional videos or all of them.
31:34If you're on your phone,
31:35make sure you go into your settings
31:37and switch on notifications.
31:42Back in August of 1988,
31:44a man named Gary Stallman
31:46strolled onto the set of KNBC
31:48and held TV presenter David Horowitz hostage.
31:51Stallman held a weapon to Horowitz's back
31:54and ordered him to read a rambling manifesto
31:57filled with conspiracy theory gibberish.
32:00Pardon me?
32:02What is this?
32:03Viewers at home only witnessed the initial attack
32:05as the feed was intentionally cut shortly afterwards.
32:08Horowitz then obliged the gunman,
32:10who was not aware that he'd been taken off the air.
32:13Stallman's statement was a bizarre tale
32:15of space creatures and the CIA.
32:17The manifesto ended with the revelation
32:19that Stallman was actually holding
32:21an unloaded BB gun
32:22and he placed it on the desk beside Horowitz.
32:25Stallman was promptly arrested
32:27and later pleaded guilty
32:28to the misdemeanor of false imprisonment,
32:30resulting in three years probation.
32:33Burbank police wrestled a man to the floor.
32:36He has been identified as Gary Stallman
32:38and he said he never intended to harm anyone.
32:40Did you happen to catch any of these live?
32:42Let us know in the comments.
32:44And from all of us here at KTVU,
32:46we can only offer our sincerest apology in this case.
32:50Did you enjoy this video?
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