The Five Most Embarrassing Moments on Live TV Ever
We all, with the possible exception of maybe Paul Rudd, have extremely embarrassing moments in our past. Even reading that sentence might have inspired your brain to cruelly pull one up for a short screening in the foyer of your mind palace. But luckily for most of us, those moments are shared by a select few, or no one at all, just a secret bit of shame to store deep underground like a cringeworthy mental mummy.
The more unfortunate among us, though, might have had these moments in front of some sort of recording device, whether it be a rogue cameraphone or something more substantial. Still, even then, there’s recourse — the files can be deleted, struck from this world with extreme prejudice for our own mental health. But if you’ve drawn the shortest straw of all, you might have the devastation of experiencing an embarrassing moment like this on live television, where you might process your blunder in synchronization with the rest of the watching world.
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Here are five horrifically embarrassing live TV moments that’ll make you thank god that your missteps remained private...
Bobsledder Pants Bust
I am not a world-champion bobsledder. In fact, I think that in almost every measurable physical metric, I would be found less impressive than someone who is at the very top of an Olympic sport. There is only one criteria in which I can claim any superiority over this world-class bobsledder: the integrity of my clothing.
In this classic and famous clip that seems pulled straight from Cool Runnings and not a real, unrehearsed bobsled race, a British bobsledder’s pure push power proves too much for the posterior of her uniform, which rips in a perfect pattern that would make Johnny Knoxville clap in admiration. More props to the athlete in question, who, whether out of pure confidence or focus, doesn’t even flinch, and sets off down the track.
Deedee MegaDooDoo
I imagine that being a news anchor is nerve-racking enough, knowing that your every word is being broadcast out every day. You’ve got to be on constant lookout for oral stumbling blocks that could send your broadcast careening onto YouTube. Not only that, but given the nature of the news, sometimes serious stories come along that demand even more carefully metered delivery.
Sometimes, though, the pressure just compounds to an untenable level, and, as is the wont of chaos, it usually happens at the worst possible time. For example, announcing the funeral of one deceased police officer, Deirdre Mengedoht. The weight of the announcement throwing caltrops in front of a name that’s a mouthful on the best of days proved too much for one anchor, and the results were catastrophic. There’s butchering a name and apologizing. It’s another thing entirely for your brain to decide it’s time to have the worst day of your life, and helpfully provide the pronunciation of the late officer’s name as: Deedee MegaDooDoo.
Cybertruck Window Smash
Elon Musk’s Cybertruck unveiling was already not met with thunderous applause. The blocky car that looked like it had been pulled straight out of an N64 port of an arcade racing game was under fire from all sides pretty much from the jump. Thankfully, the cybertruck was perfectly designed for this sort of onslaught, boasting bulletproof windows. Or that’s what everyone thought — including Musk, who intended to demo the windows’ strength on stage.
Unfortunately, the effort to right the ship and get some positive press for the polygonal vehicle went about as well as a square dance on a glass-bottomed ship, when the “Tesla Armor Glass” of the truck’s windows shattered with the very first impact from a metal ball. God bless Musk, he doubled down, probably assuming the window was a dud. When the back window shattered almost identically to the front, he was left to do nothing but shrug while the Curb Your Enthusiasm music played in the head of every observer.
Kesha Meets Seinfeld
For a certain time around the year 2010, it was truly impossible to go through life while avoiding the smash hit song “Tik Tok” by Ke$ha. At the time, we thought it was the most annoying thing that would ever be called Tik Tok. We were wrong, but it was understandable given that you couldn’t walk 10 feet without hearing her describe her highly questionable Jack Daniels-based methods of dental hygiene.
This success, of course, afforded Ke$ha a ticket to highly exclusive events, and she found herself elbow to elbow with pop culture’s elite — including apparently one of her heroes, Jerry Seinfeld. Seeing him at a red-carpet event, she couldn’t help but fangirl out slightly, and ask if she could hug the famously fat-sneakered Seinfeld. Unfortunately, it seems that a single person had been able to avoid her song after all: Seinfeld himself, who reacts with a mix of terror, confusion and slight disgust, refusing her hug and backing away, before telling a nearby interviewer that he had no idea who that was.
Randy Johnson Explodes A Bird
Imagine this: You’re a bird, a beautiful biological marvel with hollow bones and the freedom to fight gravity. You can soar through the sky without a single boundary to stop you, as depressed humans eating mediocre lunches can only gaze longingly your way. Then, instead of flying anywhere cool, like the top of a famous skyscraper or a neat statue’s head, you instead decide to fly super close to the ground, in a baseball stadium, and you get absolutely fucking pulped by a stitched piece of cowhide. How embarrassing!
