- 4 months ago
Television news has had its fair share of scandals and controversies over the years. 📺🇺🇸
In this video, we look back at the Top 10 most controversial TV news personalities in the US, exploring the scandals, missteps, and downfalls that shocked viewers and reshaped the media landscape.
📺 From shocking revelations to career-ending controversies, these moments remind us how quickly reputations can change in the fast-paced world of television news.
👉 Do you think these figures deserved their downfall—or were some treated unfairly? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
In this video, we look back at the Top 10 most controversial TV news personalities in the US, exploring the scandals, missteps, and downfalls that shocked viewers and reshaped the media landscape.
📺 From shocking revelations to career-ending controversies, these moments remind us how quickly reputations can change in the fast-paced world of television news.
👉 Do you think these figures deserved their downfall—or were some treated unfairly? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hi Jeffrey. Hello Allison. It's been a while. It has been a while indeed. I feel like we should
00:05address um what's happened in the months since we've seen you. Welcome to WatchMojo and today
00:10we're counting down our picks for employees of major American news networks who while once
00:14respected have since had their reputations tarnished by public scandal. What was your
00:18reaction when you were fired? I didn't really have one. Number 10 Don Lemon. I was informed
00:26this morning by my agent that I have been terminated by CNN. I am stunned. This Edward R. Murrow
00:32award-winning journalist was a fixture on CNN from 2006 until 2023, appearing in various capacities
00:38before being awarded Don Lemon Tonight, his own show, in 2014. Following its cancellation in 2022,
00:44CNN This Morning would ultimately serve as his final role at the network before his unceremonious,
00:49painfully public firing in 2023. After 17 years at CNN, I would have thought that someone in
00:55management would have had the decency to tell me directly. The cause was a series of on-air
00:59remarks made by Lemon that were perceived as misogynistic, as well as a reported history of
01:04similar behind-the-scenes behavior at CNN. A 2024 deal with Elon Musk's ex which would see Lemon hosting
01:09a new show on the platform was quickly scuttled following a heated, awkward interview with the
01:14billionaire. So you said if they kill the company, it's them. But doesn't the buck stop with you?
01:19I mean, you're on... I have to say, I... Choose your question carefully. There's five minutes left.
01:28Number nine Dan Rather. If evacuation of all islands and low coastal areas along the Louisiana
01:33and the upper and central Texas coast has not been completed, evacuation should be hastened before it is
01:39too late. Every precautionary measure should be taken now to protect life and property against
01:43dangerous winds and tides. One of the most legendary and respected news anchors in the
01:48history of American television, Rather first rose to national prominence in 1961 after his reporting on
01:54the highly destructive Hurricane Carla reportedly saved as many as 350,000 lives. Two years later in
02:011963, Rather covered the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, earning him CBS's coveted White House
02:07correspondent position in 1964. The films we saw were taken by an amateur photographer who had a
02:14particularly good vantage point just past the building from which the fatal shot was fired.
02:22The films show President Kennedy's open black limousine making a left turn. Rather, who then enjoyed
02:29decades of public trust and admiration, was suddenly thrust out of the spotlight in 2005 when he presented
02:34unverified documents live on air that challenged then-President Bush's record of military service.
02:40The fallout saw Rather fired the following year, only returning to CBS in 2024 for an interview with
02:46Lee Cowan.
02:46We've reported a true story. There are many questions about George Bush. Was he AWOL absent without leave?
02:54Did he desert? Because he disappeared for a year. If you're an American soldier or airman in Afghanistan
02:59today, and you walk off the base for even a couple of days, you have to be accountable and you have to
03:04pay consequences.
03:05Number eight, Brian Williams.
03:07So last week on Nightly News, Williams recounted a moment from his time embedded with the U.S. Army
03:12during the Iraq invasion.
03:15The story actually started with a terrible moment a dozen years back during the invasion of Iraq,
03:21when the helicopter we were traveling in was forced down after being hit by an RPG.
03:25Sometimes a career-damaging scandal can unfold rapidly. Other times, a seed sown years before
03:31can come back to bite you. Such was the case with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams,
03:35who'd started in 1993 as a correspondent and was later promoted to anchor in 2004.
03:40One of the crew members of that helicopter challenged Williams with this Facebook post.
03:46Sorry, I don't remember you being on my aircraft. I do remember you walking up about an hour after we
03:52had landed to ask me what had happened.
03:53Williams was accused of misrepresenting a 2003 account of an Iraq war story, in which the anchor
03:59claimed to have been a passenger on a military helicopter that was attacked. In February 2015,
04:04Williams made an on-air apology in which he admitted to lying about his presence on the
04:08helicopter, for which he was suspended and later demoted to the position of breaking news anchor
04:12for MSNBC.
04:13On this broadcast last week, in an effort to honor and thank a veteran who protected me and
04:19so many others after a ground fire incident in the desert during the Iraq war invasion,
04:25I made a mistake in recalling the events of 12 years ago. It did not take long to hear from some
04:31brave men and women in the air crews.
04:34Number seven, Megyn Kelly.
04:35Santa Claus should not be a white man anymore. And when I saw this headline, I kind of laughed and I said,
04:40you know, this is so ridiculous. Yet another person claiming it's racist to have a white Santa,
04:46you know? And by the way, for all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white. But
04:50this person is just arguing that maybe we should also have a black Santa. But, you know,
04:55Santa is what he is.
04:56The firebrand former Fox and NBC News host is no stranger to controversy and intense public
05:01scrutiny, often resulting from her unfiltered, unapologetic takes on hot topics. Such scandals
05:06have included a widely criticized 2013 instance in which Kelly was adamant in her belief that both
05:12Santa Claus and Jesus Christ are white, and crucially for our video today, a deeply cringeworthy
05:17statement about blackface on Megyn Kelly today.
05:20And I want to begin with two words. I'm sorry. You may have heard that yesterday we had a discussion
05:26here about political correctness and Halloween costumes. And that conversation turned to whether
05:31it is ever okay for a person of one race to dress up as another. In October 2018, Kelly made remarks
05:37that appeared to condone the disgraced practice, saying, when I was a kid, that was okay as long
05:41as you were dressing up like a character. Days later, Megyn Kelly today was canceled and NBC
05:45formally severed ties with her in January 2019. I defended the idea, saying as long as it was
05:52respectful and part of a Halloween costume, it seemed okay. Well, I was wrong and I am sorry.
05:58One of the great parts of sitting in this chair each day is getting to discuss different points
06:03of view. Sometimes I talk and sometimes I listen. And yesterday I learned.
06:09Number six, Charlie Rose.
06:10Bill Clinton, after the New Hampshire primary, went out front and had a press conference and
06:16he said, even though he came in second, said, I'm the comeback kid. And look what happened
06:21to Bill Clinton. Now, if you could translate that for you, where would it be? Where would it
06:28take you to? What would be the equivalent of reaching the White House for you?
06:32There was a time when the name Charlie Rose commanded respect from American audiences,
06:36owing to his beloved 1991 PBS interview program, which shared his name. Known as a forum for thoughtful,
06:42intellectual conversation and debate about hot button issues, Charlie Rose often starved well-known
06:47public figures, including celebrities and politicians.
06:50Has the diversity of your own ethnic background given you, made you a better political animal?
07:00Yes. I think that having come out on the other side of it, starting off, it's tough.
07:09Rose's show featured interviews with every U.S. president starting with Jimmy Carter. Accused
07:14of 35 counts of grave misconduct starting in 2017, Rose was quickly removed from his position
07:20as co-anchor of CBS This Morning, and his self-titled talk show was immediately pulled
07:24from the air by PBS and Bloomberg Television.
07:26In a statement, CBS News president David Rhodes said,
07:29Despite Charlie's important journalistic contribution to our news division,
07:32there is absolutely nothing more important in this or any organization than ensuring a safe
07:38professional workplace.
07:39Number five, Bill O'Reilly.
07:40The reason, though, McGurk, they want Meatless Mondays in L.A. is so everybody's healthier.
07:46They need a little fish, you eat a carrot, whatever.
07:49That is one of the motivations. This is Bloomberg on blow. And why Mondays? Because of the alliteration.
07:55What's next? Tater tots on Tuesdays are going to take away? Weanerless Wednesdays?
07:58Much like his fellow Fox News personality, Megyn Kelly, O'Reilly was perhaps more famous for
08:03his controversial comments and public feuds than for his actual journalism and hosting.
08:07Claims of misconduct against the fiery commentator stretch back to as far as 2004, in which O'Reilly
08:13sued Andrea Macris, a former producer on his show, the O'Reilly factor, for extortion after
08:18she had claimed that he had subjected her to a lewd phone call.
08:20What was the exact reason you were given, or your representatives were given, by people
08:25at Fox News for your firing?
08:27There was no reason. They had a contractual clause that they could pay me a certain amount
08:34of money and not put me on the air. And they exercised that.
08:38But why did they exercise that? What was the reason they said they were exercising that?
08:42Although Macris and O'Reilly reached a settlement out of court, renewed claims of misconduct against
08:46O'Reilly cropped up in 2017, in addition to several lawsuits. Overwhelming public backlash
08:51led to Fox canceling the O'Reilly factor. O'Reilly has since attempted a comeback with
08:56a no-spin news podcast.
08:57You said at the time you did absolutely nothing wrong. Do you stand by that?
09:01I do.
09:01And so did you provide Fox News any evidence, any information that you think could have
09:08changed their mind as to what you were guilty or not guilty of?
09:12My legal team was very aggressive in putting forth our point of view, and that's all I'm
09:16going to say about it.
09:17Number 4. Chris Cuomo
09:18What was your reaction when you were fired?
09:22I didn't really have one.
09:24Brother to disgraced former New York Governor Andrew, Chris Cuomo came under fire for his
09:28attempts to shield his brother from further fallout in the wake of Andrew's December 2020
09:33accusations of misconduct. This was in addition to the ex-governor's perceived mishandling
09:38of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state of New York.
09:40Cuomo says he's never smeared anyone. He never went after any of his brother's accusers.
09:45Plus, the Attorney General's office never accused him of that. But the documents, especially
09:50the text messages between Cuomo and his brother's aides, showed a level of coziness with the
09:55governor's staff that was alarming to many.
09:58The scandal came to light in May 2021 when Cuomo was reported to have advised his brother
10:03on how to handle his situation. This included providing Andrew with information on his accusers
10:08gleaned from Chris' media connections. Although Cuomo has maintained that he never attempted
10:13to sway CNN's coverage of his brother in any way, he was dismissed from the network in early December
10:172021.
10:18You know, there'd been so much negativity, so intense for so long that I didn't see coming
10:26that I don't know if I were numb or whatever it was, but it was just one more thing that
10:35now I was going to have to deal with. And, you know, it's complicated.
10:38Number three, Tucker Carlson.
10:40When was the last time you heard a legitimate debate about any of those issues? It's been
10:45a long time. Debates like that are not permitted in American media. Both political parties and
10:51their donors have reached consensus on what benefits them, and they actively collude to
10:57shut down any conversation about it.
10:59Carlson, the infamously outspoken host of Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight, was abruptly
11:04dismissed from the network and his show canceled on April 24, 2023.
11:08The move to fire the wildly popular Carlson was met with bewilderment from both those
11:12in the world of television, media, and audiences, as well as from the former host himself.
11:17Suddenly, the United States looks very much like a one-party state.
11:21That's a depressing realization, but it's not permanent. Our current orthodoxies won't last.
11:28They're brain dead. Nobody actually believes them. Hardly anyone's life is improved by them.
11:34This moment is too inherently ridiculous to continue, and so it won't.
11:38Carlson, known for his well-documented history of sharing personal views and statements that were
11:43widely thought of as controversial and inflammatory, was reportedly terminated by Rupert Murdoch himself.
11:49This is alleged to have stemmed from Carlson's coverage of the January 6th insurrection at the
11:53Capitol, as well as private messages described as criticizing Fox News management while using
11:58offensive language. Carlson recounts a video showing a group of Trump guys surrounding an Antifa kid,
12:04and he says they started pounding the living crap out of him, three against one. Tucker Carlson
12:09goes on, quote, jumping a guy like that is dishonorable, obviously. It's not how white men fight.
12:17Number two, Jeffrey Toobin.
12:19Hello, Alison.
12:20It's been a while.
12:21It has been a while, indeed.
12:22I feel like we should address what's happened in the months since we've seen you, since some of our
12:28viewers may not know what has happened.
12:31This author and CNN contributor has himself and the COVID-19 pandemic to blame for the egregious
12:37gaffe that found him dismissed from The New Yorker in November 2020. In a baffling move,
12:41Toobin was revealed to have exposed himself during a Zoom call with fellow New Yorker staffers,
12:46and having engaged in, well, let's call it an active self-love.
12:49New Yorker has suspended the longtime writer Toobin himself, asked to be taken off the air
12:53at CNN while he deals with a, quote, personal issue. All say. What happens to Toobin now?
12:59His best-selling book about the O.J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life, was the basis for
13:03the star-studded FX movie. Toobin had other books in development for Hollywood productions.
13:08The CNN correspondent and legal analyst immediately issued an effusive apology, stating that
13:13CNN forgave Toobin, and he returned to the network in June 2021, characterizing the incident
13:25as being deeply moronic and indefensible. Have you ever thought about what it must have been
13:29like to be on the receiving end of that Zoom call? Well, I haven't just thought about it. I've spoken
13:35to several of my former colleagues at The New Yorker about it, and, you know, they were shocked and
13:42appalled. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
13:48about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
13:53If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
13:59Number one, Matt Lauer.
14:01Just moments ago, NBC News Chairman Andy Lack sent the following note to our organization.
14:06Dear colleagues, on Monday night, we received a detailed complaint from a colleague
14:10about inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace by Matt Lauer. It represented, after serious
14:16review, a clear violation of our company's standards.
14:19Oof. Where do we even start with this one? Lauer was at one point the beloved co-host of NBC's
14:24Today, emerging as a trusted figure in news from the time of his 1997 promotion to the show.
14:29Lauer's popularity as a television host was reflected in his frequent cameos as himself in
14:34movies and television shows, seen as lending them an air of credibility.
14:38Let me get to your discovery, doctor, because-
14:40This is for you. I signed it.
14:45You're supposed to say the title in the publisher.
14:47That's not going to happen.
14:48Just say it.
14:49No! Just say the damn title.
14:52Fine.
14:53Matt Lauer Can Suck It by Dr. Rick Marshall.
14:56That came to a screeching halt in 2017, when Lauer became one of the most prominent public
15:01figures exposed by the Me Too movement. In an example of the quote-unquote Weinstein effect,
15:06Lauer's genteel on-screen personality was obliterated by disturbing allegations from
15:11female Today staffers, which included accusations of full-blown assault on Lauer's part.
15:16Some of what is being said about me is untrue or mischaracterized, but there is enough truth
15:21in these stories to make me feel embarrassed and ashamed. I regret that my shame is now shared
15:27by the people I cherish dearly. Repairing the damage will take a lot of time and soul-searching,
15:33and I'm committed to beginning that effort. Which entry on our list shocked you the most?
15:37Be sure to let us know in the comments below.
15:39There is no defense for my conduct. The only issue is what should be the consequences.
15:46And the New Yorker made one decision about the consequences. CNN made a different decision,
15:51fortunately, for which I'm very grateful.
15:54Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
15:57and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
16:01See you next time!
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