15 Confessions, Insults and Complaints We Were Never Supposed to Hear

Microphones are peculiar things. If you’re not used to using one, it feels really special, but if you’re a politician or celebrity, you get so used to wearing them, or having them trained on you, that you can just forget. While everyone occasionally says mean-spirited things the world dean’t need to hear, most of us do so without expensive audio equipment and recording devices picking up and broadcasting every hateful syllable.

The unfiltered nature of hot-mic incidents mean that the public feel they get to see the “real” version of the person involved. If a star’s public image is squeaky-clean, then footage comes out where they’ve forgotten they’re miked up and express reprehensible views, they’re done — we’ve seen who they really are.

There’s all sorts of stuff you could accidentally reveal, of course. You could mutter a hideous slur, and everyone would know you were a piece of shit. You could express a cynical viewpoint entirely at odds with your public image, and everyone would know you were a bullshitter. Or you could freely admit to committing a crime, and end up either in prison or the White House.

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