These controversial moments ended up making the News themselves. For this list, we’ll be looking at the angriest and most controversial moments to happen on news programs across the globe.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 most confrontational
00:11 news moments ever.
00:25 For this list, we'll be looking at the angriest and most controversial moments to happen on
00:29 news programs across the globe.
00:32 Have you ever been on the news?
00:33 Let us know below!
00:35 Number 20.
00:37 Jon Stewart vs. Tucker Carlson Before Tucker Carlson became a commentator
00:41 on Fox News and then got fired, he hosted Crossfire for CNN alongside Paul Begala.
00:47 In October 2004, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show fame appeared on the show to promote
00:53 his novel, America, The Book, a citizen's guide to democracy in action.
01:05 Stewart soon began criticizing Crossfire and the hosts.
01:08 While Begala took it in his stride, Carlson was seemingly very hurt and got verbally combative
01:14 as he insulted Stewart's interviewing methods.
01:17 This sparked the two polarizing figures to trade insults.
01:29 The highlight was the comedian calling Carlson a certain human appendage.
01:33 Many folks attribute this interview to why Crossfire was cancelled in 2005.
01:38 Number 19.
01:39 Michael Grimm vs. Michael Scotto When you think of the ideal politician, personality
01:45 traits such as kindness, calmness, and integrity spring to mind.
01:49 But those apparently don't belong to former congressman and convicted fraudster Michael
01:54 Grimm.
01:55 In 2014, he was interviewed by New York One reporter Michael Scotto.
02:00 After discussing the State of the Union address, Scotto asked Grimm about his financial investigation,
02:05 and he didn't take it well and left the interview.
02:22 Thinking he couldn't be heard, Grimm then threatened Scotto by claiming he would break
02:25 him in half and throw him off the balcony if the reporter blindsided him again.
02:35 While Grimm apologized later for his violent words, allegations of him being aggressive
02:40 to other journalists soon followed.
02:48 Number 18.
02:50 Russell Brand vs. Morning Joe The job of an interviewer is to promote the
02:54 guest and try to get some fun news from them.
02:57 Not to banter amongst themselves and act like obnoxious characters in a high school comedy.
03:02 But that's what the hosts of Morning Joe did in 2013 when comedian and actor Russell
03:07 Brand appeared to promote his tour.
03:16 Immediately, he was disrespectfully introduced by Mika Brzezinski, foreshadowing the calamity
03:29 to follow.
03:30 The presenters kept talking about Brand as though he wasn't there and chatted about
03:34 his attire and accent, causing him to snap and call out their rudeness.
03:51 After the hosts got his name wrong multiple times, Brand basically took over the segment
03:55 until it was finished.
03:57 In a later episode, the hosts barely apologized for their actions.
04:06 Number 17.
04:07 Jude Pischke vs. News Crew In 2017, the local news team of WTVF went
04:15 to Mount Juliet, Tennessee to speak to Jude Pischke.
04:27 For two years, he and his family had lived in an abandoned house as squatters.
04:32 Pischke believed he had a legal right to reside there since he was paying taxes.
04:36 But when WTVF arrived and asked Pischke about the property and the legal fight, he didn't
04:41 want to engage and swore repeatedly.
04:44 But the crew persisted.
04:46 So Pischke went over to his truck, grabbed an axe, and threatened them to leave.
04:53 Unsurprisingly, the weapon-wielder was arrested for his actions.
04:59 Pischke pled guilty to a count of assault and received two years of probation.
05:04 On top of that, the family left the house.
05:07 Number 16.
05:08 Krishnan Guru-Murthy vs. Quentin Tarantino Instead of criticizing laws and the media,
05:15 some reporters take the easy opinion and blame films, TV shows, and video games for inspiring
05:20 violent attacks.
05:21 In 2013, director Quentin Tarantino was interviewed by Channel 4 News' Krishnan Guru-Murthy
05:27 shortly after a mass attack in Newtown, Connecticut.
05:37 Instead of promoting Django Unchained, Guru-Murthy pressed Tarantino on the connection between
05:43 real life and screen violence.
05:46 The animated director refused to respond as he'd covered this topic many times before.
05:51 Tarantino made the point that this was a commercial for his movie.
06:07 But the journalists continued trying to get a scoop, forcing Tarantino to say, "I'm
06:12 shutting your butt down."
06:13 Instead of learning from the experience, Guru-Murthy was just as forceful with Robert Downey Jr.
06:20 in 2015.
06:22 Number 15.
06:23 Rudy Giuliani vs. Chris Cuomo Before he was fired for his own harassment
06:28 allegations and defending his brother Andrew's scandal, Chris Cuomo hosted Cuomo Primetime
06:33 for CNN.
06:34 And in September 2019, he had Donald Trump's lawyer Rudy Giuliani on.
06:40 At the time, the scandal that Trump had asked Ukraine for dirt on Hunter Biden was doing
06:44 the rounds.
06:58 So Giuliani wanted to get ahead of the story.
07:01 Instead, he made it a million times worse somehow.
07:04 Immediately, the former mayor of New York was verbally aggressive to Cuomo.
07:09 When the reporter asked him about the allegations, Giuliani rejected them.
07:13 Within moments, he confirmed he did ask Ukraine.
07:21 The interview was a mess as both parties spoke over each other and Giuliani made several
07:25 insults about CNN.
07:27 Number 14.
07:29 Cara Delevingne vs. Good Day Sacramento It's bizarre when interviewers immediately
07:34 show disrespect to their guests, only to be shocked at getting an icy reaction.
07:39 In 2015, Cara Delevingne was doing interviews to promote her role in Paper Towns.
07:44 As such, she appeared on Good Day Sacramento.
07:47 Straight away, Mary Ann McCleary introduced her as Carla, and it all went downhill from
07:52 there.
08:00 Delevingne was then asked if she had read the book the film was based on.
08:05 The actor responded with sarcasm that she just winged it.
08:08 Later, the host aggressively questioned Delevingne if she was tired or annoyed.
08:13 It was incredibly condescending, especially when they finished by suggesting she should
08:18 have a Red Bull.
08:21 Afterward, Delevingne stated they didn't understand sarcasm or British humor.
08:34 Number 13.
08:35 Piers Morgan vs. Alex Beresford Piers Morgan has become known for slating Meghan
08:41 Markle any chance he can get, and in 2021, Morgan's opinions of the actor came back
08:46 to bite him.
08:58 After going off on a rant on Good Morning Britain about Markle and Prince Harry's interview
09:02 with Oprah Winfrey, weather reporter Alex Beresford had enough.
09:06 He calmly and heavily criticized Morgan for dismissing Markle's honest conversation about
09:11 her mental health the previous day.
09:13 Morgan then proceeded to storm off the sets.
09:28 While he returned to finish the show, Morgan later quit the program.
09:32 Number 12.
09:34 Frank Rizzo vs. Stan Borman The former mayor and police commissioner of
09:38 Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo was a very controversial figure who had been accused of promoting racist
09:43 policies.
09:44 In 1980, Rizzo damaged a camera belonging to a news crew when they were stationed outside
09:49 his house on a public street.
09:59 This spurred KYW reporter Stan Borman to confront the former mayor over the incident.
10:04 He found Rizzo walking his dog and approached him.
10:07 Immediately, Rizzo refused to speak to Borman.
10:10 As the reporter kept pressing, Rizzo threatened him with a fistfight and resorted to insults.
10:30 He famously called Borman a creep, crumbum, and, bizarrely, a crum-creep-lush coward.
10:36 The reporter, deadpanning by stating Rizzo doesn't even know him, was delightful.
10:41 Number 11.
10:42 George W. Bush vs. Muntadhar El-Zaidi In 2008, then-US President George W. Bush
10:49 hosted a press conference in Baghdad, Iraq alongside the country's Prime Minister,
10:54 Nouri El-Muliki.
10:56 Watching with his fellow journalists was Muntadhar El-Zaidi, who blamed Bush and the US for the
11:01 massive number of casualties in the Iraq war.
11:10 El-Zaidi called the President a "dog" in Arabic and threw a shoe at Bush, who ducked.
11:16 Armed with one more, El-Zaidi lobbed his remaining shoe, which also missed, before being restrained
11:21 by security.
11:23 While many in the Middle East saw El-Zaidi's actions as heroic, the US and the Iraqi government
11:28 did not.
11:29 The journalists later served nine months in jail for the incidents.
11:41 Number 10.
11:42 Jennifer Livingston vs. Anonymous Fat Shamer This story is a fairly serious one, but certainly
11:48 a headline that she'll never forget.
11:50 It's also quite unique in that this entry has a very cold confrontational moment, and
11:55 yet there is only one person involved.
12:07 After receiving an email from an anonymous source that criticized her weight, WKBT News
12:11 anchor Jennifer Livingston turned the situation on its head.
12:15 Livingston, who has a medical condition that affects her weight, used her platform and
12:19 confronted not just the emailer, but any would-be body shamer out there.
12:37 Unanimously and deservedly praised for her candor, Livingston proved how to stand up
12:42 for herself in a dignified way.
12:57 Number 9.
12:58 Jamie Simpson vs. Bachelorette Viewers Also in the news… list… is this now infamous
13:05 moment, which is not only intense, but probably saved some lives in the process.
13:13 Still this emergency update was apparently a huge inconvenience to the Bachelorette fans
13:17 wanting to see what Hannah Brown had to say.
13:21 And they were none too happy to have weatherman Jamie Simpson interrupt the broadcast to,
13:25 you know, warn of an impending tornado.
13:28 Another moment in which an on-screen personality is confronting someone through the camera,
13:33 Simpson was having none of the social media backlash from the Bachelorette faithful.
13:45 His outbursts angrily reminded them that their personal safety was way more important.
13:50 Several hours after a tornado touched down, lead star Hannah Brown took to Twitter to
13:53 back Simpson up.
14:01 Number 8.
14:02 Matt LeBron vs. John DeLucic In other news… related moments of this list,
14:08 we have a confrontation between co-workers that would have been hilarious to watch live,
14:12 provided you weren't too busy darting to the nearest storm shelter of course.
14:21 But is it about weathermen and their hot tempers?
14:24 Then again, it's tough staying cool on live TV.
14:27 In a clip that made its way to Jimmy Kimmel Live, weatherman Matt LeBron can be seen berating
14:31 news anchor John DeLucic for not paying attention to the impending weather warning.
14:40 The atmosphere was more tense in the studio, but LeBron gets a pass for his impassioned
14:45 stance.
14:46 The first time he was delivering a tornado warning, he had to evacuate the studio.
14:56 Number 7.
14:57 Chad Myers vs. Carol Costello In some related news, this particular entry
15:02 involves a confrontational moment between weatherman and anchor.
15:06 On the morning of August 30th, meteorologist Chad Myers was giving his daily update on
15:11 the path of Hurricane Katrina.
15:13 Before he could get into it, Carol Costello cut in and asked him, albeit somewhat rudely,
15:17 to call it as plainly as he could.
15:19 In her defense, when dealing with such a serious issue, perhaps Myers could have simplified
15:24 things a little.
15:25 Instead, he blew up, sharply demanding that Carol let him talk.
15:38 Luckily, it was very early in the morning, so fewer people saw his rage and besides,
15:43 he was just joking apparently.
15:48 Number 6.
15:49 Courtney Brennan vs. Newell Resident And in other news, sometimes confrontation
15:54 can be a cool reminder that journalists aren't to be taken for granted.
15:58 Particularly in the local news programming, where the press aren't as protected, tensions
16:03 can quickly rise.
16:12 Such was the case in November 2012, when Pittsburgh's WPXI-TV News sent field journalist Courtney
16:19 Brennan to Newell in order to report on a finding of explosives in a residential area.
16:28 Whilst setting up, herself and her crew were approached by a local resident and berated.
16:33 For giving credit where it is due, Brennan did not give an inch or back down, despite
16:37 the aggressive behavior she unexpectedly faced.
16:49 Number 5.
16:50 Kate Baldwin vs. Carl Higbee This news event was a long time coming.
16:56 In 2016, CNN News personality Kate Baldwin was given a show initially to report on the
17:01 presidential election.
17:03 To ensure that the show had no bias towards any political leanings, guests from the left
17:07 were just as welcome as guests from the right, with Baldwin mediating.
17:17 During a discussion into the White House allegedly sharing information with Russia, former Navy
17:21 SEAL and Donald Trump supporter Carl Higbee started questioning the legitimacy of anonymous
17:26 sources if they won't state their names.
17:36 Higbee began shouting about how anonymous sources should be named.
17:39 The onslaught of Higbee's naive statement didn't end, and other guests soon took him
17:43 to task.
17:44 We get the feeling they had had this conversation before.
17:52 Number 4.
17:53 Brooke Baldwin vs. Keith Reid vs. Clay Travis In breaking news, former CNN host Brooke Baldwin
18:00 gave viewers the ultimate confrontation during a three-way conversation in September 2017.
18:20 Ironically, this moment came about during a longer and heated debate over the practice
18:24 of free speech, as Jemele Hill's tweets had gotten her into hot water with the White House
18:29 and ESPN.
18:33 Still, Clay Travis' remarks that he believes in only the First Amendment and boobs did
18:41 little but annoy Baldwin, who was trying to promote more women with her platform.
18:46 After clarifying that he didn't say booze, Baldwin finally pulled the rug out from under
18:50 Travis' feet and cut him off.
19:03 And that's goodnight for him.
19:05 Number 3.
19:06 Weijia Jiang vs. Donald J. Trump News from the White House now.
19:10 When you think of great rivalries, you can have Frazier vs. Ali, The Rock vs. Austin,
19:15 David vs. Goliath, but the most intriguing heavyweight bouts of recent times is Trump
19:20 vs. Jiang.
19:21 Since 2018, reporter Weijia Jiang has been the White House correspondent for CBS News,
19:27 and for some reason then-President Donald Trump took an instant dislike to her.
19:33 He's told her to keep her voice down, referred to her questions as nasty, and accused her
19:37 of fabricating a "gotcha" moment, all on separate occasions.
19:43 But nothing compares to the press conference in which he told Jiang, who is of Chinese
19:48 origin, to ask China about coronavirus responses.
20:13 When challenged, he backtracked, and when challenged again, he abruptly walked off
20:28 stage.
20:29 Running away?
20:30 You decide.
20:31 Number 2.
20:32 Jim Ryan vs. Dick Oliver In local news, rooms, tensions can be very
20:38 high.
20:39 In small teams, the intimacy of the office can lead to strong relationships or butting
20:43 heads.
20:44 It's a testament to one's professionalism to keep the behind-the-scenes animosity away
20:47 from the public eye.
20:53 But it's much funnier when fights happen on camera.
20:56 Just ask Jerry Springer.
20:58 Anchor Jim Ryan got into it with reporter Dick Oliver when the latter seemed to let
21:02 the news story go.
21:03 Oliver's response was to immediately move on to the offensive, reminding Ryan that he
21:08 used to be the boss.
21:19 The moment was long considered to be the inspiration behind the Herb Welch character on Saturday
21:23 Night Live.
21:24 Though the SNL team deny that, it's hard to ignore the similarities.
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21:53 Number 1.
21:54 Jim Acosta vs. Donald J. Trump And finally, our top story is an event that
22:00 started in the news and then made the news before ending up in the courtroom.
22:05 Luigi Giang may have been one of Donald Trump's least favorite correspondents, but CNN's
22:09 Jim Acosta could be the ex-president's nemesis.
22:20 During a White House press conference in which he challenged Trump over his "invasion of
22:23 migrants from South America" remarks, Acosta gently blocked the intern attempting to take
22:28 the microphone.
22:43 Trump accused Acosta of physically shoving her and had Acosta's press pass revoked.
22:48 Judges expressed this as a contravention of the Fifth Amendment.
22:51 The case was settled when Acosta was reinstated.
22:54 Say what you like about the 45th president, but he did provide some confrontational moments
22:59 on the news.
23:18 Here's what's next!