These folks were just not a good fit... For this list, we’ll be looking at instances where people were either terminated or terminated themselves around the time cameras were rolling.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Let me start with my headline tonight. I'm retiring.
00:03Welcome to Miss Mojo.
00:04And today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 times people were fired or quit on live TV.
00:10I made a comment earlier tonight that I guess went out over the year that I am deeply ashamed of.
00:19For this list, we'll be looking at instances where people were either terminated or terminated
00:23themselves around the time cameras were rolling. Know of any other on-air dismissals? Let us know
00:29in the comments. Number 10 Shepard Smith. Over the years, Fox News has garnered a reputation
00:35for its conservative leanings and support of like-minded politicians. However, one pundit
00:40who stood out in that regard was Shepard Smith. A personal moment now, gathering and reporting
00:46the news has been my life's work. First joining the team in 1996, Smith wasn't known to be someone
00:52who let his opinion be compromised. He consistently criticized President Donald Trump, who would often
00:57criticize him back. In 2019, after feeling strained among his contemporaries, Smith announced
01:03his resignation live on his show. Recently, I asked the company to allow me to leave Fox News
01:08after requesting that I stay. They obliged. Despite the nonspecific locker room drama,
01:13Smith handled the announcement professionally, having previously informed his superiors.
01:17Even in our currently polarized nation, it's my hope that the facts will win the day,
01:23that the truth will always matter, that journalism and journalists will thrive.
01:29He subsequently made the move to CNBC, where he worked until 2022.
01:34Number 9 Twitter Employees. 2022 was a turbulent year for the media platform,
01:44as its acquisition by business magnate Elon Musk brought with it a whole slew of controversies.
01:50In November of that year, Musk laid off nearly half of the workforce, before issuing an ultimatum
01:55to the rest. He said that they had to commit to a quote, extremely hardcore work ethic within
02:00two weeks, else they resign. Naturally, hundreds of employees refused to adopt the new system,
02:06and a few found a fun way to wring in their unemployment. With the deadline looming,
02:10five employees were filmed counting down the seconds. Granted, it wasn't technically live,
02:15but it was posted, to Twitter of course, immediately after, so we're counting it anyway.
02:19Mostly because it's just too good. Number 8 Jack Parr. Without a doubt our oldest instance
02:33of a live resignation, this one came all the way back in 1960. Tonight, starring Jack Parr,
02:39ran from 1957 to 1962, and would eventually become the Tonight Show that we know and love today.
02:45But, there was a three-week period within that run in which Parr had technically resigned.
03:01During one show, for which only the audio has survived, Parr was blindsided when NBC's censors
03:06replaced a joke about toilets with news coverage. Known to be temperamental, Parr hastily announced
03:12his departure live on the air, saying, quote, There must be a better way of
03:23making a living than this. After being persuaded to return,
03:26Parr came back and answered his three-week old query with, quote, There isn't.
03:30If you're on the front page of the New York Times, a story about a show that's on your air,
03:37people are going to be tuning in. I mean, you're building an audience.
03:41So Jack had a good audience. They're making money. Number 7 Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio.
03:47Two on-air resignations for the price of one. And finally tonight, this will be Tony and my
03:52final show together here on ABC7. The last six years have been an interesting and enjoyable
03:56time for both of us, as we have been the longest-running news team in Bangor. In 2012,
04:02Bangor main anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio kept their sudden departure from the
04:07station a secret from their co-workers, until they had a camera in their face. Some recent
04:11developments have come to our attention, though, and departing together is the best
04:15alternative we can take. They were purposely vague about the why of it all, but Michaels
04:19later told the Bangor Daily News that the treatment of staff from higher up was unacceptable.
04:24In any case, she and Consiglio handled their on-air announcement with poise,
04:28with the former even plugging her future endeavors. We'll still be around. I'm going
04:32to pursue a freelance writing career and concentrate on the novel I'm writing and
04:35painting, but we'll be around. Yeah, and I will be continuing on my career in another capacity.
04:40We have designed a new set for you, which is coming in December. Unfortunately,
04:44we won't be here to sit on it. I really wanted to see it.
04:46It's too bad they didn't get to appreciate the new set.
04:49Number 6. A.J. Clemente We all can get a little nervous when starting
04:53a new gig, but most of us don't have the added pressure of being live on TV for it.
04:58A.J. Clemente did, and he might have set the record for the quickest on-air firing.
05:02In 2013, Clemente joined his first broadcast in Bismarck, North Dakota,
05:07but commemorated the moment with some choice expletives right off the bat.
05:18Apparently, Clemente didn't realize he was live, with his comments slightly throwing
05:22off co-anchor Van Thieu. Thieu tries to introduce him, but Clemente's jitters continue,
05:27saying something to the effect that he's used to being from the East Coast?
05:32Obviously, Clemente was fired almost immediately after,
05:44but he definitely gave the internet a chuckle or two.
05:47Number 5. Chris Matthews Beginning in 1997,
06:05Chris Matthews hosted his show Hardball on CNBC and MSNBC for 23 years. But in 2020,
06:12it was a scandal that prompted him to hang it up for good. Or so it seemed at the time.
06:17At the top of the show, Matthews announced that he was retiring,
06:25citing multiple factors, most notably his inappropriate comments towards women.
06:30A lot of it has to do with how we talk to each other. Compliments on a woman's appearance that
06:35some men, including me, might have once incorrectly thought were okay were never
06:40okay. Not then and certainly not today. And for making such comments in the past, I'm sorry.
06:44Throughout his career, Matthews had been called out for sexist speech directed at people like
06:49Melania Trump and Sarah Palin. An inappropriate exchange with journalist Laura Bassett had most
06:55recently come to light, likely leading to the resignation. But remembering Humphrey
06:58Bogart in Casablanca will always have Hardball. So let's not say goodbye, but till we meet again.
07:05The retirement didn't last too long, though, as Matthews returned to MSNBC
07:09as a political analyst in 2022. Number 4. Gwen Dean
07:14Forget the Twitter guys. This might be the most creative way to quit over the airwaves.
07:18Let's talk about dreams and the people who choose to pursue them.
07:23Like Gwen, a machine engineer from New York. The web hosting company Go Daddy has become
07:28known for their memorable and often provocative Super Bowl commercials over the years. But their
07:32spot during the 2014 game had some real-world implications. Alongside actor John Turturro,
07:37Gwen Dean quit her job as an operator of refrigeration machinery in the middle of
07:41the commercial to pursue her dream of starting her own puppet performance company.
07:52It turns out Ted really was watching and texted Dean immediately to tell her how much he loved
07:57the ad. Sure, Dean wasn't technically live at the time, but the commercial sure was,
08:01and it was glorious. Number 3. Tom Brenneman
08:17Tom Brenneman falls into the camp of AJ Clemente, only his blunder was way, way worse.
08:27In 2020, Brenneman was working as the announcer for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team.
08:31But his employment with the team came to an abrupt end when he was caught on a hot mic.
08:36Unaware that he was live, Brenneman was heard using an anti-gay slur to describe the city of
08:41San Francisco. In the second game of that day's doubleheader, Brenneman was yanked from the booth,
08:53but not before he addressed the situation. Well, that and the home run ball from Nick Castellanos.
09:07While Brenneman wasn't officially suspended until later that night,
09:10pretty much everyone knew he was done, including him.
09:23Number 2. Liz Wall
09:43Liz Wall is an American journalist, but she worked at the U.S. branch of the Russian TV
09:48network RT from 2011 to 2014. In February and March of 2014, Russia enacted the annexation of
09:55Crimea, which was illegal under international law. Wall, incensed over how RT was downplaying
10:01Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions, stepped down during a live broadcast. The clip
10:14immediately went viral, with Wall's decision garnering mixed reactions both within and
10:19outside RT. Wall went on to report for Newsy, and in 2020 announced her candidacy for the U.S. House
10:25of Representatives in the state of Texas. She, however, wasn't elected. Before we continue,
10:42be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
10:47You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
10:51If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
10:57Number 1. Charlo Greene
10:59Quitting on air doesn't get more meta than this.
11:07In 2014, Charlo Greene was working as an anchor for a station in Anchorage, Alaska.
11:11She was reporting a story about a medical marijuana club when she suddenly revealed
11:15that she was the owner of said club. She then completely burned her bridges by announcing she
11:20was leaving the station to devote all of her time to marijuana reform and letting out a word you
11:25really can't say on live TV. You seriously couldn't write this stuff, but the story gets weirder.
11:37In 2015, Greene's club was raided by local police, who then arrested and charged her
11:42with multiple counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance.
11:46Greene avoided jail time, but paid a hefty fine.
11:56Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo,
11:59and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.