Sometimes, silence is golden. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most shocking times TV personalities threw their careers or reputations away live on-air.
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00:00A woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.
00:03What are you talking about?
00:04That's not according to me.
00:06Prime for what?
00:07Welcome to WatchMojo!
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the most shocking times TV personalities
00:14threw their careers or reputations away live on air.
00:17And for me, at 68 years of age, to have to turn around and say,
00:22I ain't racist. What's it got to do with me?
00:2530. Tex Antoine
00:29Hello, I'm Tex Antoine, and I'd like to talk to you about the best way to feed your dog.
00:34Even without formal training in meteorology, Antoine became a fixture in local U.S. weather
00:40reporting for decades. He was known for meshing entertainment into his reports.
00:45However, in 1976, Antoine's storied career came crashing down. While working for WABC,
00:53he made a highly insensitive joke about assault right after a harrowing news story
00:57about a child being assaulted aired. Soon, the station was flooded with complaints from viewers,
01:03and WABC suspended Antoine. Although many people called for his firing,
01:08the network eventually brought him back in a non-TV role.
01:12However, when Antoine's contract expired in 1977, WABC chose not to renew it.
01:18He later found brief work at a different station before passing away in 1983.
01:2429. Al Kampanis
01:26Why do you think it is? Is there still that much prejudice in baseball today?
01:30No, I don't believe it's prejudice.
01:32After becoming the first Greek player in the MLB, Al Kampanis went on to serve as the general
01:37manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers for nearly two decades. In 1987, he appeared on Nightline
01:44for an episode celebrating Jackie Robinson, a friend of his. However, instead of being a
01:49touching tribute, the segment became infamous for Kampanis uttering various racist statements.
01:56How many quarterbacks do you have? How many pitchers do you have that are black?
02:01I gotta tell you, that sounds like the same kind of garbage we were hearing 40 years ago
02:04about players.
02:05When asked by host Ted Koppel why there was a lack of black managers and general managers in
02:11baseball, Kampanis stated that they didn't have the, quote, necessities for those roles. Yikes.
02:17He also claimed black people aren't good swimmers due to a lack of buoyancy.
02:22The outrage caused him to be fired as general manager two days later.
02:26Why are black men or black people not good swimmers? Because they don't have the buoyancy.
02:33Number 28. Ron Atkinson
02:35It was automatic. There was no choice. He was red carded. You know, what he did was
02:39a red card offense.
02:40With a long career as a footballer and then as a manager for teams like Manchester United
02:45and West Brom, Ron Atkinson seemed like a good choice to be a pundit for the UK's ITV.
02:51But no. In 2004, while covering a Champions League match, Atkinson,
02:56believing his microphone was off, heavily criticized Chelsea player Marcel Desailly
03:02and used a racial slur.
03:04And then they showed Desailly, who I'd also been critical of in the game.
03:08And that is when apparently I made the alleged remark.
03:11Unfortunately for Big Ron, his words were broadcast in other countries in the Middle East.
03:16As a result, Atkinson was forced to resign from ITV and his newspaper column with The Guardian.
03:22Since then, he has barely worked in primetime punditry
03:26and now claims to be, quote, fed up with apologizing for the incident.
03:30Let me say something to you now. And people, the response I've had from the black people,
03:36I've got to tell you.
03:37Number 27, Don Cherry.
03:40You tell me that's fair. What the hell is going on with suspensions?
03:44After decades as a professional ice hockey player and a head coach,
03:48Don Cherry transitioned into a broadcasting career.
03:51In 1982, he became the face of Coach's Corner,
03:55later creating an iconic partnership with Ron McLean and gaining fame for his outlandish suits.
04:02However, in 2019, he ruined his career and reputation.
04:06Cherry went off on a rant criticizing immigrants,
04:09accusing them of not supporting Canadian veterans because they don't buy and wear
04:13remembrance poppies.
04:14You love our way of life. You love our milk and honey.
04:17At least you can pay a couple of bucks for a poppies or something like that.
04:21His comments were denounced by the Royal Canadian Legion,
04:24the NHL, and even his co-anchor, McLean.
04:27But Cherry refused to apologize.
04:30Two days later, he was fired by the broadcaster.
04:33As a result, Coach's Corner was canceled.
04:36Yes, I wish I had said everybody, but there's nothing I can do about it. I didn't.
04:41Number 26, Jim Cornette.
04:43This is Jim Cornette, and the views that I'm about to express are not necessarily
04:46those of anybody else but me, but they ought to be, and as a matter of fact, they probably are.
04:50Since 1976, Cornette has been in various roles within the wrestling industry,
04:55working for companies such as WWE, Ring of Honor, WCW, and many more.
05:00There aren't many big organizations he hasn't worked for.
05:04Yet, while the sport evolved, Cornette seemingly didn't.
05:08In 2019, while commentating for NWA Power on YouTube,
05:12he mentioned Trevor Murdoch was the only guy he knew who,
05:15quote,
05:16"...can strap a bucket of fried chicken on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia."
05:21No, he's the only man I've ever known that can strap a bucket of fried chicken
05:24on his back and ride a motor scooter across Ethiopia.
05:26Cornette had rehashed a similar phrase he'd used in 1995.
05:31Due to the backlash, the NWA apologized and removed the episode online.
05:36The next day, Cornette was forced to leave the company,
05:40and one month later, he announced his retirement from commentary.
05:44Wrestling is the roughest, most dramatic,
05:46and oftentimes the most hilarious sport before the American public today.
05:49Number 25.
05:51Piers Morgan.
05:52I did not know her that well.
05:54All it did was inform me that she has a bit of a streak in her where she cuts
05:57people out of her life when she moves on.
05:59At one point, Morgan was one of the UK's most famous TV hosts,
06:03with projects such as Britain's Got Talent and Piers Morgan's Life Stories under his belt.
06:08In 2015, he joined the Good Morning Britain team.
06:12However, over time, Morgan's relentless criticism of Meghan Markle began to overshadow his work.
06:18Because of your previous relationship with Meghan Markle, you sometimes...
06:22I didn't have a relationship with Meghan Markle.
06:23But you met up with her, you knew her...
06:24I knew her briefly.
06:26It got so bad that in 2021, after the airing of Oprah with Meghan and Harry,
06:31Morgan expressed his doubts about Markle's account of her mental health struggles.
06:35This sparked co-host Alex Beresford to verbally lay into him,
06:40resulting in a heated argument.
06:42Morgan stormed off the set in response.
06:44Sorry, can't do this.
06:46Absolutely diabolical behavior.
06:48Later that day, he quit the show and has struggled to be taken seriously since.
06:53Number 24.
06:55Bill Grundy.
06:56You see, they're as drunk as I am.
06:58They're clean by comparison.
06:59They're a group called the Sex Pistols.
07:01Throughout his long broadcasting career,
07:04Bill Grundy was best remembered for one terrible interview.
07:07In 1976, he hosted the UK regional magazine show Today.
07:12With Queen unavailable due to a medical emergency,
07:15the Sex Pistols were brought in for a live interview instead.
07:19And it was a mess.
07:20Grundy was immediately hostile to the band and their entourage.
07:24He showed them no respect and even suggested that he was intoxicated.
07:29In return, the Pistols mocked him and swore repeatedly,
07:33despite such language being forbidden at the time.
07:36You dirty son.
07:38You dirty old man.
07:40Keep going, keep going.
07:42Go on, you've got another five seconds.
07:44Say something outrageous.
07:45This incident turned the small show into a national discussion.
07:48Grundy was initially suspended, but two months later, Today was cancelled,
07:53leaving him without a job.
07:54He fell into obscurity before his passing in 1993.
07:58But if I let it go too far, it was to show that lot up for what they are,
08:02the foul and horrible future.
08:04Do you know what this means to you?
08:05Oh, don't tell.
08:07The past.
08:08Number 23, Chris Cuomo.
08:10What I'm saying is you have these employers, the agro companies,
08:14the other big manufacturers, they take them in because it's cheap labor.
08:17And they get away with it all the time.
08:19After moving to CNN and getting his own show in 2018,
08:23everything seemed to be going well for Chris Cuomo.
08:26When his brother Andrew, the governor of New York, was accused of harassment,
08:30Cuomo seemingly did the right thing by publicly stating
08:33he wouldn't discuss the story due to a conflict of interest.
08:36I said point blank, I can't be objective when it comes to my family.
08:40So I never reported on the scandal.
08:43And when it happened, I tried to be there for my brother.
08:46Yet behind the scenes, it was apparently another matter.
08:49In 2021, it was discovered that Cuomo had used his connections
08:52and experience to advise Andrew on his response.
08:56And he'd collected information on the accusers.
08:59This horrific breach of journalistic ethics caused CNN to suspend Cuomo.
09:04This, on top of assault allegations against Cuomo himself,
09:07caused the network to ultimately fire its former prized host.
09:11Now having to deal with something I haven't had to deal with
09:16in so many years, which is now what?
09:20Number 22, Howard Cozell.
09:23He was unbelievably sensitive to the most ridiculous criticism imaginable.
09:31Howard Cozell was a titan in the world of sports broadcasting,
09:34but he left a permanent black mark on his record during a 1983 football game.
09:39While responding to an impressive move by wide receiver Alvin Garrett,
09:43Cozell used some unfortunate wording while referring to the player's speed.
09:48Jake Gibbs wanted to get this kid.
09:50And that little monkey gets loose, doesn't he?
09:53Cozell insisted that the statement wasn't intended to be cruel,
09:56and he was even backed up by prominent African-American athletes,
10:00whom he'd previously supported.
10:02Nonetheless, the highly publicized incident
10:05was instrumental in Cozell's eventual departure from Monday Night Football.
10:09While he still continued work afterwards,
10:11the story surrounding his comments diminished his popularity
10:14and contributed to a noticeable downturn in his media career.
10:18Sports writers took care of that, boy.
10:20They're right there.
10:22They're always on the wrong side of the fence.
10:25Number 21, Don Imus.
10:28I didn't think it was necessary to offer any excuse.
10:31No, I don't think there is now.
10:32With a storied career in radio and a shock jock reputation,
10:36controversy has often surrounded Don Imus.
10:39But the biggest one happened in 2007 on his Imus in the Morning show.
10:44While discussing an NCAA Women's Basketball Championship game
10:48between Rutgers University and the University of Tennessee,
10:51Imus and executive producer Bernard McGuirk made several offensive remarks.
10:56That I'm here to represent myself.
10:58I do not in any way speak for Mr. Imus,
11:01who, by the way, conducted himself with dignity and class.
11:04Imus called the Rutgers team, quote,
11:06rough due to having tattoos,
11:09then threw in racial slurs and misogynistic language with McGuirk.
11:13The incident sparked protests,
11:15and many activists and politicians called for Imus to be fired.
11:19After being briefly suspended, MSNBC fired Imus from their platform,
11:24a position he had held for 36 years.
11:27Imus continued his show elsewhere, albeit with a broken reputation.
11:31At this point, as we sit here today, is there anything he can do?
11:35Yeah, he can resign.
11:36Number 20, Jimmy the Greek.
11:38The stage name for Jimmy Snyder,
11:41Jimmy the Greek, was a television personality who kinda,
11:44sorta, maybe supported illegal gambling.
11:47A Las Vegas bookmaker, Snyder would appear on CBS's
11:51The NFL Today and predict the scores.
11:54This would thereby help the bookies in Vegas set the odds for particular games.
11:58He served with CBS for 12 years before getting fired in 1988.
12:03In January of that year, he was giving an interview with Washington's WRC-TV
12:09when he made highly offensive remarks about African-American athletes.
12:13I'm not being derogatory about it, but that's all that's left for them.
12:16After his opinions drew immediate condemnation,
12:19even Snyder himself seemed remorseful.
12:22In the end, he was fired by CBS and later tried suing them for breach of contract.
12:28He didn't win.
12:29It goes without saying that his comments do not reflect in any way
12:33the thinking or attitudes of the rest of us here at CBS Sports.
12:37While we deplore the incident this weekend,
12:39we are saddened that our 12-year association with Jimmy had to end this way.
12:43Number 19.
12:45Lara Logan
12:46For a while, South African journalist Lara Logan had a good career
12:50and even served as chief foreign affairs correspondent for CBS.
12:54But everything collapsed on October 27, 2013,
12:58when she appeared on 60 Minutes to report on the 2012 Benghazi attack.
13:03Logan's report was riddled with factual errors.
13:06After the incident, she apologized on CBS This Morning for her shoddy journalism
13:11and blamed an inaccurate source in the U.S. embassy in Benghazi.
13:15The most important thing to every person at 60 Minutes is the truth.
13:19And today the truth is that we made a mistake.
13:22And that's very disappointing for any journalist.
13:26It's very disappointing for me.
13:28She was forced to take a leave of absence and later left CBS entirely.
13:32Logan then fell into far-right beliefs
13:35and started speaking publicly about various conspiracy theories.
13:39She also landed a job at Fox News, but she was fired by them as well in 2022.
13:45Number 18.
13:47Dan Rather
13:48When it comes to iconic names in news, it doesn't get much bigger than Dan Rather.
13:53He anchored CBS Evening News for over two decades and won eight Peabody's.
13:58Unfortunately, his legendary career was overshadowed by an incident in the mid-2000s.
14:03In 2004, Rather reported on the Killian documents.
14:08These memos were supposed to be official proof that George W. Bush
14:11had a rocky stint as a member of the Texas Air National Guard.
14:15We also presented documents for the first time,
14:17which indicated that once Mr. Bush was accepted into the Guard,
14:21he failed to live up to the requirements of his service, including following an order.
14:25However, it was quickly revealed that these memos were a modern forgery.
14:29The affair severely tarnished Rather's reputation with the network.
14:33Those were facts and that was true. Because it was true, those who wanted to discredit
14:39the story had to attack the process by which we got to the truth,
14:43and they successfully attacked us on that.
14:46After retiring as an anchorman, he was fired from CBS entirely.
14:50While he went on to other ventures, his career with the big network was
14:54seemingly damaged beyond repair.
14:5717. Rick Sanchez
14:59After much local work, Rick Sanchez earned national attention when he was hired to work for CNN.
15:06He eventually became the station's anchor and hosted his own show called Rick's List,
15:11which drew acclaim for its unique integration of social media.
15:14But his steady rise came to a screeching halt due to a radio appearance.
15:19While Sanchez was on Sirius XM's Stand Up with Pete Dominic,
15:23he made negative remarks about both Jon Stewart and Jewish people.
15:28He called Stewart a bigot, a term he later retracted,
15:32and claimed Jews were not an oppressed minority.
15:35Telling me that...
15:36I'm telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart,
15:39and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart.
15:42Sanchez was fired from CNN a day after the comments went public.
15:46After losing his job, he made a number of public apologies.
15:49You googled Rick Sanchez at the time. You didn't get me.
15:54You didn't get the guy who had the highest rated show on CNN.
15:57I disappeared. My brand was gone. What you got was a cartoon character named Rick Sanchez.
16:04And when I would tell people to look for me, they couldn't even find me.
16:0716. Glenn Kuyper
16:10For nearly 20 years, Kuyper was virtually seen as the play-by-play voice of the Oakland Athletics.
16:16But his career trajectory changed on May 5, 2023.
16:20Kuyper was in Kansas City for a game and mentioned on air that he had visited the
16:25city's Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. But when speaking about the location,
16:29he said a racial slur as the first word of the title.
16:33Kuyper was quick to apologize and claimed that he misspoke.
16:36Not being disappointed. You're going to meet some of the greatest athletes to ever play this game.
16:42You walk away with an even greater appreciation for just...
16:46At the same time, the team's official social media accounts condemned his use of the slur.
16:51Following an internal investigation, the longtime announcer was fired from the network.
16:56It's a painful lesson for all of us. It also lets us know, again, in this crazy world,
17:02particularly this crazy world of social media that we live in now,
17:07a simple mistake can be compounded in such a way.
17:1115. Natasha Exelby
17:14While you might not know her name, you may have seen her viral clip.
17:18Natasha Exelby is a journalist who once worked for ABC Australia News.
17:23During one live show, the camera cut back to her while she was mindlessly playing with her pen.
17:29Now to sport with Meredith Sheehan.
17:31Exelby quickly realized her error with a big reaction,
17:34and immediately went to segue into the next segment. While the clip was widely shared on
17:39social media as a funny clip, it was no laughing matter for Exelby. Since she was freelancing at
17:45the time, ABC Australia chose not to offer additional on-air shifts. Exelby's treatment
17:51after the pen incident earned her more support than years from her industry peers.
17:5614. Danielle Sargent
17:59If there's one cardinal rule in broadcasting, it's that you should not swear.
18:03Danielle Sargent was reminded of this rule when she worked for ESPN.
18:07She was doing a live broadcast on March 9, 2006, when the camera cut to pre-taped footage of a
18:13basketball game. Unbeknownst to her, Sargent's microphone remained hot during the broadcast.
18:19This paved the way for everyone to hear her drop a massive F-bomb.
18:23That was me in the game. It's 74-71 until Jerry McNamara for the tie.
18:29And this wasn't a, eh, maybe the viewers missed it kind of thing. No, this was loud,
18:34very clear, and unmistakable. When it came time to renew her contract, ESPN declined.
18:4113. Don Lemon
18:43Journalist Don Lemon had been steadily working in news since 2006 when he joined CNN as a
18:49correspondent. But at certain points in his career, he drew criticism for his negative
18:54opinions about women. Everything came to a head on February 19, 2023. On that day,
19:00Lemon criticized politician Nikki Haley by saying, quote,
19:04a woman is considered to be in her prime in her 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.
19:10That's not according to me. Prime for what?
19:13It depends. I mean, it's just like prime. If you look it up, it'll, if you look,
19:16if you Google when is a woman in her prime, it'll say 20s, 30s, and 40s.
19:20This comment earned Lemon widespread condemnation.
19:23He apologized, but the damage was done.
19:26It also sparked a report from Variety, which showcased his history of misogynistic behavior.
19:32He was subsequently fired on April 24, 2023.
19:3612. Rush Limbaugh
19:38Most people know the name Rush Limbaugh for his popular talk radio show. But did you know that
19:44he also worked for ESPN as a football commentator? We wouldn't blame you if you didn't,
19:49because the stint certainly didn't last long. During one on-air segment,
19:53Limbaugh criticized Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. He called the athlete
19:58overrated and stated that the player received additional praise for being Black.
20:02I think there was a little hope invested in McNabb,
20:05and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he really didn't deserve.
20:09The comments earned much criticism, and some called Limbaugh racist.
20:13The on-air personality later claimed that he was trying to take shots at the media coverage.
20:18At the same time, Limbaugh also announced his resignation from ESPN just a few weeks
20:24into his tenure. 11. Sharon Osbourne
20:28This television personality's gift for Gab landed her a job on, well, The Talk.
20:33The CBS daytime features a number of individuals discussing recent news and human interest stories.
20:39In 2021, the hosts discussed Meghan Markle and the harsh comments made against her by
20:45Pierce Morgan. Osbourne defended aspects of Morgan's behavior,
20:49and got into a vicious fight with her co-host, Cheryl Underwood.
20:53Can I be racist about anybody or anything in my life? How can I?
21:00Well, I'll tell you.
21:01Well, what?
21:02We'll be right back. We have more topics, so don't go away.
21:05And I think we should stop this.
21:07To make matters worse, negative comments that Osbourne had previously made about Markle
21:12resurfaced. The argument and older soundbites convinced CBS to put the show on hiatus.
21:18They later announced that Osbourne's conduct did not represent a respectful workplace.
21:23Not long after the incident, the host resigned from the show.
21:26I never thought in my wildest dreams that my career after 50 years would have ended that way.
21:3510. Chris Matthews
21:36The man in the White House is behaving now like a character on that old detective show,
21:42Columbo. He's acting like one of the bad guys.
21:45Best known for his political roundtable show,
21:47Hardball with Chris Matthews, that launched in 1997,
21:50this host's involvement in politics and journalism actually goes back decades.
21:54So after a long career in the public eye,
21:57Matthews was already at the point of contemplating retirement.
22:00But a bizarre rant likening Bernie Sanders' Nevada caucus win to the Nazi invasion of France
22:05brought on his retirement much sooner than planned.
22:08I'm reading last night about the fall of France in the summer of 1940,
22:12and the general calls up Churchill and says, it's over. And Churchill said, how can it be?
22:18You got the greatest army in Europe. How can it be over? He said, it's over.
22:22His comments sparked calls for resignation and coincided with a new column published
22:27about inappropriate comments he'd allegedly made towards journalist Laura Bassett.
22:32Facing the fire from two fronts, Matthews met with his bosses at MSNBC
22:37and later resigned on air after offering apologies for his behavior.
22:41Compliments on a woman's appearance that some men, including me,
22:45might've once incorrectly thought were okay, were never okay. Not then, and certainly not today.
22:50And for making such comments in the past, I'm sorry.
22:53Number nine, Paula Abdul.
22:55Abdul's career soared as one of the original judges on American Idol.
23:00But there were reports in the mid-2000s that behind the scenes,
23:03she was struggling with substance use.
23:05A now infamous Fox News interview in 2007 only encouraged these rumors.
23:11What do Idol fans have to look forward to this season?
23:13And what are you looking forward to seeing?
23:16Well, is that what it is? I was wondering, what is that?
23:23Paula slurred her words and struggled with her balance,
23:26to the point where Fox News had to address her behavior on air.
23:29They acknowledged that during the very beginning of that interview,
23:32there was an audio problem. Paula was actually hearing a Fox TV station in Memphis
23:37and didn't hear our questions from Seattle. But after that,
23:40the audio was fixed and you saw how the rest of that interview went.
23:44Two years later, Ladies Home Journal would publish an interview in which
23:48Abdul said she was overusing pain medication. Abdul claimed they'd fabricated quotes.
23:55Rumors also emerged that she'd clashed with Idol management.
23:59And Abdul and the show parted ways that same year.
24:02Simon, I understand what you're saying, but I disagree with what...
24:05No, I think you're patronizing him.
24:06I'm not patronizing him at all.
24:07I do. I do.
24:09She's been jumping from short-lived hosting gigs, reality TV and TV movies ever since.
24:14Number eight, Angel Cardenas.
24:17We've mentioned foot and mouth disease and how dangerous it can be on live TV.
24:21But this next entry can only be described as a case of whole body and mouth disease.
24:26So no one is out here to tell me which car I can't go in,
24:29because, you know, some of these are off limits.
24:31So I'm just gonna, I'm gonna live on the wild side.
24:33Tell me what you think about this pose right here, Tina.
24:36Sacramento reporter Angel Cardenas was getting the lowdown on an upcoming classic car show
24:41when, after noticing that he was alone in a room full of beautiful cars,
24:45he decided to make himself right at home, climbing on one car and possibly denting another.
24:50What year is this thing? I think it's a 1950...
24:5499, yeah, right.
24:55Oh, oh, I hit that other car.
24:58Oh, no.
24:59Angel.
25:01Cardenas was fired, obviously, but we can't help but wonder if he wanted to be fired the
25:05whole time acting like this. Like the dude didn't even tuck his shirt in before going live on TV.
25:10He was either trying too hard or not trying enough.
25:13I would get off that now.
25:16Oh, oh, no, he told me to go. Okay, I'm gonna get in trouble.
25:20Back to you guys.
25:21Bye.
25:21Number seven, Paula Deen.
25:24After Paula Deen admitted to using racial slurs, her emergency PR strategy was baffling.
25:30Essentially, it consisted of showing up on national TV, crying and apologizing profusely,
25:36and making biblical references about no one being without sin.
25:40If you're out there, please pick up that stone
25:44and throw it so hard in my head that it kills me. Please, I want to meet you.
25:50This apology interview did not sit well with her critics,
25:53and nor did it win back any of her fleeing business partners. In fact,
25:57more businesses fled from Deen Island after this weak attempt at an apology,
26:02with both Caesars Entertainment and Walmart dropping her shortly after.
26:06While we appreciate Paula's sincere apologies, the company wrote,
26:09it's in the best interest of both parties to part ways.
26:12In a short time span, one of the most popular celebrity chefs on the planet
26:16went from being on national TV with the Food Network to appearing on smaller,
26:20local cable channels and now self-publishing on YouTube.
26:24On lots of days, it's just go, go, go. And for those days, we need quick, quick, quick meals.
26:31Number six, Chris Harrison.
26:34For nearly 20 years, Chris Harrison served as host of The Bachelor and its many spinoffs.
26:40Between 2002 and 2021, Harrison guided us through the joys of love and the pains of loss.
26:47But speaking of loss, Harrison lost his job following an extra interview with Rachel Lindsay.
26:53A former contestant named Rachel Kirk Connell had ignited controversy for liking
26:58photos of the Confederate flag and attending an Antebellum South plantation-themed party.
27:04It's not a good look. It's not a good look.
27:06It's not a good, well, Rachel, is it a good look in 2018 or is it not a good look in 2021?
27:12Harrison defended Kirk Connell during the extra interview,
27:15prompting widespread criticism and forcing him to take a leave of absence from The Bachelor.
27:20After a few months of silence, it was announced that Harrison was permanently stepping down
27:25as host.
27:26I am an imperfect man. I made a mistake and I own that. I believe that mistake doesn't
27:34reflect who I am or what I stand for.
27:39Number 5. Kelly Osbourne
27:41If you never wanted to be invited back to co-host a show again,
27:44we couldn't think of a better strategy than Kelly Osbourne's when she appeared on The View in 2015.
27:51Responding to Donald Trump's description of Mexican immigrants,
27:55Osbourne wondered who would clean Trump's toilet.
27:58If you kick every Latino out of this country,
28:01then who is going to be cleaning your toilet, Donald Trump?
28:04Now, we know she was trying to make a point about Trump's attitude towards America's
28:08Mexican community and that her message got hella twisted from her brain to her mouth.
28:12I'm okay with people calling me whatever they want to call me.
28:15However, I'm not okay that I hurt people's feelings.
28:19But we don't foresee her being invited back to host The View anytime soon.
28:23Her career hasn't exactly been stellar since as she left fashion police that same year
28:28and has been hopping between competition shows and family endeavors since.
28:32I have to tread lightly on this one because people know that I have a history with her,
28:35but she just looks terrible.
28:37Terrible. Oh, God.
28:39Number 4. Megyn Kelly
28:41And I want to begin with two words. I'm sorry.
28:44Not even a 15-year run as a news reporter and TV host could save the high-profile Kelly
28:49when she defended blackface on her show Megyn Kelly Today in 2018.
28:53In a discussion about why donning blackface is inappropriate on Halloween,
28:57Megyn failed to see the seriousness of it,
29:00saying it was routine when she was a kid and questioned whether it was racist.
29:04Okay, when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character.
29:07She received slight pushback from her co-hosts at the time,
29:11but the worst of the backlash came via Twitter,
29:13and Kelly was forced to apologize on air the very next day.
29:17You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion here about political correctness
29:20and Halloween costumes, and that conversation turned to whether it is ever okay for a person
29:26of one race to dress up as another.
29:27The apology was for naught, as only three days after making the remarks,
29:31Megyn's show was canceled, and she was fired a few months later.
29:35Number 3. AJ Clemente
29:38Filed this one under, so funny he should have kept his job.
29:41Rookie newscaster Clemente was on his first day at the anchor desk, and super stressed,
29:46when he dropped an F-bomb just as the show was going live. And the rest is viral video infamy.
29:52It was so popular that AJ even did a media tour talking about the epic gaffe.
29:57Because you're man enough to face the music, you've been on this show,
30:00you've been on a lot of shows, you've been on the Twitter and the face feed and all of that stuff.
30:06If you want to, you should be offered that job back.
30:09And while we understand why AJ couldn't have kept his job in live TV after such a careless mistake,
30:16we're still laughing at this video all these years later. And seeing as this single video
30:21has brought us so much joy, we really hope AJ landed on his feet after being canned and is
30:26enjoying a happy, healthy life. Are we live? Yeah, we're live. I know that's your favorite
30:33form of TV. Number 2. Brian Williams
30:37I did not set out to in any way change the chronicle of what happened to us.
30:45With the news industry in such a precarious place in the era of social media over the past decade,
30:50finding out that respected newsman Brian Williams lied in order to make his reporting
30:54sound more heroic came as an epic letdown in 2015. On the ground, we learned the Chinook ahead of us
31:01was almost blown out of the sky. That hole was made by a rocket propelled grenade or RPG
31:09fired from the ground. Williams made up a story about him being on a helicopter that came under
31:13fire in Iraq in 2003. And the public and professional outburst when it was revealed
31:19this wasn't true forced NBC to suspend him for six months without pay.
31:23I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. It did not take long to hear
31:29from some brave men and women in the air crews who were also in that desert. I want to apologize.
31:36After so many years at the helm of NBC's flagship news show and NBC Nightly News,
31:41Williams' fabrications led to his demotion to MSNBC,
31:45where he remained until his retirement in 2021.
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32:05Number 1. Billy Bush
32:07Bush was made co-host on NBC's Today after many years of co-hosting Access Hollywood Live.
32:12But his tenure at Today was short-lived after a previously unreleased tape of himself and
32:17soon-to-be-president Donald Trump was uncovered that contained some pretty heinous remarks about
32:22women. Now, as we all know, Trump was definitely the most offensive in this recording, what with
32:36his now-infamous line. But Bush was also widely criticized for encouraging Trump's misogynistic
32:42behavior, and he was later suspended from Today and eventually fired from NBC entirely.
32:59Bush wasn't heard from for almost three whole years after the incident either,
33:02until it was announced that he'd be taking over as host of Extra from Mario Lopez in 2019.
33:12Which TV host who destroyed their career off-air shocked you the most? Matt Lauer,
33:25Philip Schofield, Amy Robach, and T.J. Holmes? Or someone else? Let us know in the comments.
33:31Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
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