Live TV is a unique medium that requires adaptability to avoid awkward situations quickly. Unlike movie bloopers, which can be edited, live television offers no chance to correct mistakes in post-production. When things go wrong on air, you either recover deftly or freeze in embarrassment while millions watch.
So, in the spirit of respectful secondhand embarrassment, here are nine legendary live-TV mix-ups that will forever live in infamy.
The 2017 Moonlight switch-up
During the 2017 Oscars, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway came out to announce the Best Picture winner. Beatty opened the envelope, looked shocked, and handed the card to his co-host, who then confidently announced “La La Land.” Music starts playing, the team is cheering, eyes are getting misty, but then everything changed. The La La Land team was quietly told that the real winner was actually Moonlight. Producer Jordan Horowitz had to walk up and deliver the shocking news. Beatty explained later that he had received the wrong card, and PwC apologized. Big oof.
Idina Menzel/Adele Dazeem mishap
At the 2014 Oscars, John Travolta introduced Idina Menzel with the kind of confidence normally reserved for reading your own name. Unfortunately, what came out was: “Adele Dazeem.” I mean, Menzel-Adele—sure, that’s understandable. Anyone could have made that mistake. But not after reading it from a freaking card! Travolta later tried to smooth it over with a number of excuses, but the real outcome was simple: “Adele Dazeem” achieved instant immortality. Menzel later even returned the favor by introducing him with a similarly mangled fake name, proving revenge is best served live.
Miss Colombia VS. Miss Philippines
Miss Universe 2015 gave the audience two and a half minutes of pure joy, followed by the worst case of schadenfreude in decades. Host Steve Harvey announced Miss Colombia, Ariadna Gutiérrez, as the winner. She got crowned, draped in the sash, handed flowers, and even waved to the crowd. Then Harvey walked back out and made a slight correction: Miss Philippines, Pia Wurtzbach, was the actual winner. Yeah, they got that sash and tiara off of Miss Colombia and gave it to Pia. Harvey apologized and took responsibility, but the damage was already viral.
A very bad bite
WFSB weather reporter Scot Haney picked something up from the floor and just ate it, believing it was Grape-Nuts cereal or something similar. His co-hosts gave him a very concerned and confused look, as if asking, “Dude, did you just…?” Haney responded by saying, “It’s a little soggy and tastes like shoes.” As you may have guessed, it wasn’t a Grape-Nut, nor was it a piece of a shoe. It was a substance that had fallen off his shoe. And that residue, he realized on-air, was cat vomit. The end. Call the curtain.
A name mix-up no one forgot
During the 2015 Oscars Academy, president Cheryl Boone Isaacs was announcing cinematography nominees and stumbled on the name of Dick Pope, accidentally calling him “Dick Poop.” She corrected herself immediately, but it was too late. People started laughing because society is a bunch of twelve-year-olds at heart. Pope made a joke about this incident later, basically implying he’d been called worse, but next time, maybe just put Richard instead of Dick on your Oscar questionnaire.
Teleprompter shenanigans at the Golden Globes
At the 2013 Golden Globes, Salma Hayek and Paul Rudd were set to announce nominees for Best TV Drama. Even you could do it, right? Well, there was a slight issue with the teleprompter. It just went blank and refused to cooperate. They had the envelope with the winner, but the nominees list was on the prompter. So they stood there in that terrible quiet where you can feel every camera zooming into your soul. To his credit, Rudd did what comedians do when faced with challenges: he began joking and vamping until the nominees montage finally began. What a champ!
Ashlee Simpson’s “live” performance
Ashlee Simpson’s infamous Saturday Night Live moment is something that haunts every lazy performer out there forever. Her first song was all good, but during the second performance, the wrong vocal track started playing. Yes, that’s right, that first song wasn’t live! The confusion and sheer panic on her face were justifiable. After realizing there’s nothing she could do now (and some awkward dance moves), Simpson walked off stage. The band kept playing as if nothing had happened, which somehow made it even funnier and sadder. Simpson later made an excuse that she wasn’t supposed to sing live due to health issues, but for some reason, I don’t believe that for a second.
Music Award double trouble
In 1964, Sammy Davis Jr. presented two music Oscars with titles so similar they basically dared the universe to cause trouble—”best music score, adaptation or treatment” and “best music score, substantially original.” Davis announced the winner for one category, but it turned out he’d read the wrong envelope. He’d named John Addison, but the actual winner for that category was André Previn. So, naturally, Addison won the other category. Despite the extremely chaotic mishap, Davis handled it with smooth professionalism.