Top 20 Biggest Live TV Disasters
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Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 Biggest Live TV Disasters. For this list, we’ll be looking at the most infamous instances of live television (or online streaming) gone wrong. We won’t be including deaths or tragedies. Instead, we’ll be looking more at broadcasting snafus and comedic mishaps. Did you happen to catch these moments live? Let us hear about it in the comments below!
Back in the early ‘50s, ABC aired a live sci-fi anthology show called “Tales of Tomorrow.” Each episode was broadcast as it happened, so, naturally, there were a few disasters. One such blunder came in the first season episode “Frankenstein.” Legendary actor Lon Chaney Jr. played the monster - only, he wasn’t very good. Chaney broke character and refused to destroy the props. Instead, he mimed the actions and gently placed the furniture on the ground. According to Chaney’s biographer, Don Smith, the actor had been drinking and falsely believed that he was conducting a rehearsal - hence the breaking of character and ginger treatment of the props. Chaney later admitted that he thought it was a dress rehearsal, but he denied that he was drunk.
This was the television event of the ‘80s. And it all came to a big, hilarious nothing. Construction companies found secret rooms before beginning to renovate Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, which once housed legendary gangster Al Capone. Naturally, people believed that these rooms may house valuable objects once belonging to Capone’s organization. Recently-fired reporter Geraldo Rivera then hosted “The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults,” which hoped to reveal the chambers’ contents on live television. The event was heavily advertised and watched by thirty million people. The IRS was even on scene to scoop up Capone’s giant pile of hidden money. Except, there was no pile of money. In fact, there was nothing at all. The live special deflated like a balloon and immediately entered the annals of live TV disasters.
Hey, accidents happen. Even to the biggest entertainers on the planet. Madonna showed up at the 2015 Brit Awards to perform her new song, “Living for Love.” This being Madonna, the performance was expertly choreographed and featured a fun wardrobe change. Only, it didn’t go so well. The plan was to have a black cape ripped from Madonna’s back, revealing her sparkly black and red outfit underneath. Unfortunately, this cape was fastened too firmly around her neck, and when one of the dancers ripped it from her back, she came with it. Madonna fell off the stairs, hit her head on the stage, and ultimately suffered whiplash, but she continued the performance as if nothing happened. Now that’s a consummate pro.
German R&B group Milli Vanilli were extremely popular in the late ‘80s, winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and scoring five top five hits in the United States. But everything started crashing down on July 21, 1989. During a live performance on MTV, their hit song “Girl You Know It’s True” began to skip, indicating that they had been lip-syncing. Furthermore, a man named Charles Shaw came forward and declared that he had sung on their debut album, not the credited Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. This accusation, plus the disastrous live TV performance, eventually culminated in the truth - Morvan and Pilatus were imposters. They were fired by music producer Frank Farian, and Milli Vanilli quickly disappeared from the public consciousness.
Poor Ashlee Simpson. She’s never going to live this one down. Back in October of 2004, Simpson appeared as the musical guest on “SNL” in support of her debut, Autobiography. She performed both “Pieces of Me” and the album’s title song. Well, she performed “Pieces of Me.” When the music began for “Autobiography,” the pre-recorded vocals of “Pieces of Me” played over the speakers instead. Panicked and not knowing what else to do, Simpson awkwardly danced off the stage and left her musicians to fend for themselves. Both the lip synching and the singer’s reaction received enormous backlash, and the incident was widely parodied.
It was November 22, 1987, and thousands of Chicagoans were hunkering down to watch some TV. At 9:14 pm, WGN-TV was airing the news when their signal was hijacked. Instead of sports clips, the TV now showed a person in a Max Headroom costume rocking back and forth. This lasted almost twenty seconds. A few hours later, at 11:20, WTTW’s airing of “Doctor Who” was interrupted by seemingly the same person. This was a far more complex hijacking. It lasted about a minute and a half and contained talking, singing, crude props, middle fingers, and even a bare behind. This was the ‘80s version of trolling, and the trolls got away with everything. Despite an investigation, no one was able to find the source of the hijacking.
This could very well be the funniest blunder ever seen on national television. On May 8, 2006, tech expert Guy Kewney was scheduled to interview live on the BBC concerning a recent court case involving Apple. However, the staff mixed him up with Guy Goma, a business graduate who happened to be interviewing at the BBC on the same day. Goma was ushered on stage, quickly wired up, and soon launched into a live interview with host Karen Bowerman. Goma tried his best to answer the questions, but it was very obvious that something was off, especially considering the shocked reaction that Goma conveys at the beginning of the interview. And the worst part of it all? He wasn’t even hired.
This 2002 soccer game was between West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United. United goalkeeper Simon Tracey was given a red card less than ten minutes in, prompting manager Neil Warnock to make a substitution. He later made two more for strategic purposes. Managers are only given three substitutions per game, so he was now unable to add new players. What followed was a pure comedy of errors. Two players were kicked out for physically attacking their opponents, and two others were taken out with injuries. This left United with just six men - less than the seven allotted by the rules. The referee was forced to end the match for this infraction, making this English football history’s only game to end on a player shortage.
Live TV is fascinating. You can follow a national news story in real time, and you can also watch it deflate in an instant. On October 15, 2009, the country watched enraptured as a gas balloon floated through the air with a six-year-old boy supposedly trapped inside. However, the boy was later found in the attic of his home, prompting allegations of a hoax. This was seemingly confirmed during a live interview with Wolf Blitzer, when the boy said his family “did this for the show.” A law enforcement affidavit later concluded that the parents had planned the hoax in an attempt to drum up interest for “future media interests.” The Heene family continues to deny that it was a hoax.
Steve Harvey may be a consummate professional, but he will always be remembered for a simple bungle. At the conclusion of Miss Universe 2015, Steve Harvey declared Colombia’s Ariadna Gutiérrez the winner. However, he awkwardly bumbled his way back on stage and told the crowd that he had messed up. Gutiérrez was actually the “1st runner-up,” and the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach was the real winner. Harvey had gotten confused while reading the results, as “1st” was located beside Gutiérrez’s name. The mistake made headline news, became an internet sensation, and continues to haunt Harvey to this day. Just fourteen months later, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took some of the heat off Harvey by announcing the wrong Best Picture winner at the 89th Academy Awards.
On December 31st, 2016, Mariah Carey joined Ashlee Simpson in the cringy “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, Just Get Me the Heck Out of Here” Hall of Fame. The legend was set to perform “Emotions” and “We Belong Together” on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” when she experienced some unfortunate technical difficulties. During the first track, she reportedly couldn’t hear the backing track, and instead of soldiering on, she just sort of ambled about the stage. Carey talked in a passive aggressive manner to the audience while her dancers continued as planned and the odd whistle note emanated from the speakers. The second “performance” meanwhile could be described as an entertaining but hilarious mess.
During a live quarterfinals performance on “America’s Got Talent,” stuntman Ryan Stock swallowed a steel rod with a target attached to the end. This target poked out of his mouth and was supposed to be shot with a flaming arrow by his fiancée, Amber Lynn Walker. This seems like a bad idea, not only from a safety standpoint, but a live TV standpoint as well. A stunt like this can go catastrophically wrong, and it nearly did. The flaming arrow ended up pegging Stock in the throat, causing him to grimace in pain and quickly pat away any potential flames. The judges and audience watched the stage in silent worry before host Nick Cannon assured everyone that Stock was OK.
Kanye West thought that Beyoncé had [“one of the best videos of all time!”] Well, we think this is one of the most unforgettable live TV disasters of all time! It was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and Taylor Swift had just won for “You Belong with Me.” By winning, she beat out Beyoncé’s iconic “Single Ladies” video. As Swift accepted her award, West infamously stormed the stage, grabbed the mic from her hand, and claimed that Beyoncé should have won. He probably expected cheers but got boos instead, prompting him to turn and made an obscene gesture at the crowd. It was an incredibly shocking moment that even earned the attention of President Barack Obama, who called West a not-so-nice name.
Back in the late ‘80s, TV presenter Anthea Turner was hosting a live children’s program called “UP2U.” Turner was on location reporting on a pageant conducted by the British Armed Forces. A motorcycle stunt was planned for Turner’s story, but miscommunication resulted in a horrible accident. As Turner was sitting on the back of a truck, the pyrotechnics exploded in her face and set her on fire. Families watching from home were understandably shocked and frightened, as they did not know the extent of Turner’s injuries. She ended up suffering numerous burns and temporary hearing loss, and she successfully sued the BBC.
An infamous piece of TV history occurred on the night of February 1, 2004 - AKA Super Bowl 38. As everyone knows, Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off the outer layer of Janet Jackson’s shirt while performing a dance move, briefly revealing more than intended. This instigated a national discussion the likes of which has rarely been seen before or since. It was front page news across the country, with some calling it an indecent act of American immorality. Janet Jackson ended up blacklisted by many radio stations and television music channels. It also led to the creation of YouTube and added the term “wardrobe malfunction” to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Talk about an unforgettable halftime show.
Sinéad O'Connor was once the biggest name in music. Her single “Nothing Compares 2 U” was especially successful, topping the Hot 100 for 4 weeks and being named 1990’s #1 world single by Billboard. But then her career essentially came to a halt on the night of October 3, 1992. She was performing Bob Marley’s “War” on “Saturday Night Live” when she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II. The move was meant to protest abuse within the Catholic Church, but it only got O'Connor into heaps and heaps of trouble. NBC received thousands of complaints and other celebrities, including Joe Pesci and Madonna, viciously criticized her actions. And that was pretty much it for Sinéad O'Connor - at least as a chart-topping pop star.
Injuries notwithstanding, the Battle of Bramall Lane was borderline comedic. Malice at the Palace was, well, malicious. This was a basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. With less than 46 seconds left in the game, Pacer Ron Artest fouled Piston Ben Wallace. Wallace’s physical response to Artest’s act resulted in a brawl. The fight was brief, but then someone in the crowd threw a drink at Artest, prompting him to storm into the stands. He attacked who he thought was the thrower, when in reality this person was innocent. People attempted to pull Artest off the man, the situation escalated to include spectators, and before long, all Hell had broken loose. The police intervened and numerous people were charged with assault, including players and fans alike.
The 1989 World Series is perhaps the most famous of the modern era. Not because of the games, but because of what happened before one. Shortly after the pre-game ceremony began for game three, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, interrupting the video feed and distracting sportscasters Tim McCarver and Al Michaels. Viewers at home were met with loud static, a “technical difficulties” graphic, and the creepy sound of screaming fans. Luckily, no one within the stadium was injured, despite its extensive shaking. In fact, the game is credited with saving lives, as people usually on the roads were either at the game or watching from their homes.
Back in the mid ‘80s, actor Richard Belzer hosted a cable talk show called “Hot Properties.” To promote the first WrestleMania, Belzer hosted the event’s marquee stars, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Belzer asked Hogan to demonstrate a wrestling move, so Hogan put him in a chinlock. However, Hogan took the bit a little too far and ended up knocking Belzer unconscious. He then dropped the limp Belzer to the ground. Belzer played it off after waking up, but it was obvious that he had been hurt. Belzer later sued Hogan for an undisclosed amount. He bought a farmhouse in France with the proceeds, which he named Chez Hogan.
Back in August of 1988, a man named Gary Stollman strolled onto the set of KNBC and held TV presenter David Horowitz hostage. Stollman held a weapon to Horowitz’s back and ordered him to read a rambling manifesto filled with conspiracy theory gibberish. Viewers at home only witnessed the initial attack, as the feed was intentionally cut shortly afterwards. Horowitz then obliged the gunman, who was not aware that he had been taken off the air. The manifesto ended with the revelation that Stollman was actually holding an unloaded BB gun, and he placed it on the desk beside Horowitz. Stollman was promptly arrested and later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of false imprisonment, resulting in three years’ probation.
#20: The “Tales of Tomorrow” Fiasco
Back in the early ‘50s, ABC aired a live sci-fi anthology show called “Tales of Tomorrow.” Each episode was broadcast as it happened, so, naturally, there were a few disasters. One such blunder came in the first season episode “Frankenstein.” Legendary actor Lon Chaney Jr. played the monster - only, he wasn’t very good. Chaney broke character and refused to destroy the props. Instead, he mimed the actions and gently placed the furniture on the ground. According to Chaney’s biographer, Don Smith, the actor had been drinking and falsely believed that he was conducting a rehearsal - hence the breaking of character and ginger treatment of the props. Chaney later admitted that he thought it was a dress rehearsal, but he denied that he was drunk.
#19: Al Capone’s Vault
This was the television event of the ‘80s. And it all came to a big, hilarious nothing. Construction companies found secret rooms before beginning to renovate Chicago’s Lexington Hotel, which once housed legendary gangster Al Capone. Naturally, people believed that these rooms may house valuable objects once belonging to Capone’s organization. Recently-fired reporter Geraldo Rivera then hosted “The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults,” which hoped to reveal the chambers’ contents on live television. The event was heavily advertised and watched by thirty million people. The IRS was even on scene to scoop up Capone’s giant pile of hidden money. Except, there was no pile of money. In fact, there was nothing at all. The live special deflated like a balloon and immediately entered the annals of live TV disasters.
#18: Madonna’s Brit Awards Fall
Hey, accidents happen. Even to the biggest entertainers on the planet. Madonna showed up at the 2015 Brit Awards to perform her new song, “Living for Love.” This being Madonna, the performance was expertly choreographed and featured a fun wardrobe change. Only, it didn’t go so well. The plan was to have a black cape ripped from Madonna’s back, revealing her sparkly black and red outfit underneath. Unfortunately, this cape was fastened too firmly around her neck, and when one of the dancers ripped it from her back, she came with it. Madonna fell off the stairs, hit her head on the stage, and ultimately suffered whiplash, but she continued the performance as if nothing happened. Now that’s a consummate pro.
#17: Milli Vanilli Ruin Their Own Careers
German R&B group Milli Vanilli were extremely popular in the late ‘80s, winning the Grammy Award for Best New Artist and scoring five top five hits in the United States. But everything started crashing down on July 21, 1989. During a live performance on MTV, their hit song “Girl You Know It’s True” began to skip, indicating that they had been lip-syncing. Furthermore, a man named Charles Shaw came forward and declared that he had sung on their debut album, not the credited Fab Morvan and Rob Pilatus. This accusation, plus the disastrous live TV performance, eventually culminated in the truth - Morvan and Pilatus were imposters. They were fired by music producer Frank Farian, and Milli Vanilli quickly disappeared from the public consciousness.
#16: Ashlee Simpson Dances Off Stage
Poor Ashlee Simpson. She’s never going to live this one down. Back in October of 2004, Simpson appeared as the musical guest on “SNL” in support of her debut, Autobiography. She performed both “Pieces of Me” and the album’s title song. Well, she performed “Pieces of Me.” When the music began for “Autobiography,” the pre-recorded vocals of “Pieces of Me” played over the speakers instead. Panicked and not knowing what else to do, Simpson awkwardly danced off the stage and left her musicians to fend for themselves. Both the lip synching and the singer’s reaction received enormous backlash, and the incident was widely parodied.
#15: The Max Headroom Incident
It was November 22, 1987, and thousands of Chicagoans were hunkering down to watch some TV. At 9:14 pm, WGN-TV was airing the news when their signal was hijacked. Instead of sports clips, the TV now showed a person in a Max Headroom costume rocking back and forth. This lasted almost twenty seconds. A few hours later, at 11:20, WTTW’s airing of “Doctor Who” was interrupted by seemingly the same person. This was a far more complex hijacking. It lasted about a minute and a half and contained talking, singing, crude props, middle fingers, and even a bare behind. This was the ‘80s version of trolling, and the trolls got away with everything. Despite an investigation, no one was able to find the source of the hijacking.
#14: BBC Interviews the Wrong Guy
This could very well be the funniest blunder ever seen on national television. On May 8, 2006, tech expert Guy Kewney was scheduled to interview live on the BBC concerning a recent court case involving Apple. However, the staff mixed him up with Guy Goma, a business graduate who happened to be interviewing at the BBC on the same day. Goma was ushered on stage, quickly wired up, and soon launched into a live interview with host Karen Bowerman. Goma tried his best to answer the questions, but it was very obvious that something was off, especially considering the shocked reaction that Goma conveys at the beginning of the interview. And the worst part of it all? He wasn’t even hired.
#13: The Battle of Bramall Lane
This 2002 soccer game was between West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United. United goalkeeper Simon Tracey was given a red card less than ten minutes in, prompting manager Neil Warnock to make a substitution. He later made two more for strategic purposes. Managers are only given three substitutions per game, so he was now unable to add new players. What followed was a pure comedy of errors. Two players were kicked out for physically attacking their opponents, and two others were taken out with injuries. This left United with just six men - less than the seven allotted by the rules. The referee was forced to end the match for this infraction, making this English football history’s only game to end on a player shortage.
#12: The Balloon Boy Hoax
Live TV is fascinating. You can follow a national news story in real time, and you can also watch it deflate in an instant. On October 15, 2009, the country watched enraptured as a gas balloon floated through the air with a six-year-old boy supposedly trapped inside. However, the boy was later found in the attic of his home, prompting allegations of a hoax. This was seemingly confirmed during a live interview with Wolf Blitzer, when the boy said his family “did this for the show.” A law enforcement affidavit later concluded that the parents had planned the hoax in an attempt to drum up interest for “future media interests.” The Heene family continues to deny that it was a hoax.
#11: Steve Harvey’s Famous Bungle
Steve Harvey may be a consummate professional, but he will always be remembered for a simple bungle. At the conclusion of Miss Universe 2015, Steve Harvey declared Colombia’s Ariadna Gutiérrez the winner. However, he awkwardly bumbled his way back on stage and told the crowd that he had messed up. Gutiérrez was actually the “1st runner-up,” and the Philippines’ Pia Wurtzbach was the real winner. Harvey had gotten confused while reading the results, as “1st” was located beside Gutiérrez’s name. The mistake made headline news, became an internet sensation, and continues to haunt Harvey to this day. Just fourteen months later, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway took some of the heat off Harvey by announcing the wrong Best Picture winner at the 89th Academy Awards.
#10: Mariah Carey’s New Year’s Show
On December 31st, 2016, Mariah Carey joined Ashlee Simpson in the cringy “I Don’t Know What I’m Doing, Just Get Me the Heck Out of Here” Hall of Fame. The legend was set to perform “Emotions” and “We Belong Together” on “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest” when she experienced some unfortunate technical difficulties. During the first track, she reportedly couldn’t hear the backing track, and instead of soldiering on, she just sort of ambled about the stage. Carey talked in a passive aggressive manner to the audience while her dancers continued as planned and the odd whistle note emanated from the speakers. The second “performance” meanwhile could be described as an entertaining but hilarious mess.
#9: Flaming Arrows
During a live quarterfinals performance on “America’s Got Talent,” stuntman Ryan Stock swallowed a steel rod with a target attached to the end. This target poked out of his mouth and was supposed to be shot with a flaming arrow by his fiancée, Amber Lynn Walker. This seems like a bad idea, not only from a safety standpoint, but a live TV standpoint as well. A stunt like this can go catastrophically wrong, and it nearly did. The flaming arrow ended up pegging Stock in the throat, causing him to grimace in pain and quickly pat away any potential flames. The judges and audience watched the stage in silent worry before host Nick Cannon assured everyone that Stock was OK.
#8: Kanye West Interrupts Taylor Swift
Kanye West thought that Beyoncé had [“one of the best videos of all time!”] Well, we think this is one of the most unforgettable live TV disasters of all time! It was the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, and Taylor Swift had just won for “You Belong with Me.” By winning, she beat out Beyoncé’s iconic “Single Ladies” video. As Swift accepted her award, West infamously stormed the stage, grabbed the mic from her hand, and claimed that Beyoncé should have won. He probably expected cheers but got boos instead, prompting him to turn and made an obscene gesture at the crowd. It was an incredibly shocking moment that even earned the attention of President Barack Obama, who called West a not-so-nice name.
#7: Anthea Turner’s Accident
Back in the late ‘80s, TV presenter Anthea Turner was hosting a live children’s program called “UP2U.” Turner was on location reporting on a pageant conducted by the British Armed Forces. A motorcycle stunt was planned for Turner’s story, but miscommunication resulted in a horrible accident. As Turner was sitting on the back of a truck, the pyrotechnics exploded in her face and set her on fire. Families watching from home were understandably shocked and frightened, as they did not know the extent of Turner’s injuries. She ended up suffering numerous burns and temporary hearing loss, and she successfully sued the BBC.
#6: The Super Bowl Wardrobe Malfunction
An infamous piece of TV history occurred on the night of February 1, 2004 - AKA Super Bowl 38. As everyone knows, Justin Timberlake accidentally ripped off the outer layer of Janet Jackson’s shirt while performing a dance move, briefly revealing more than intended. This instigated a national discussion the likes of which has rarely been seen before or since. It was front page news across the country, with some calling it an indecent act of American immorality. Janet Jackson ended up blacklisted by many radio stations and television music channels. It also led to the creation of YouTube and added the term “wardrobe malfunction” to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary. Talk about an unforgettable halftime show.
#5: Sinéad O'Connor Rips Up a Photo on “SNL”
Sinéad O'Connor was once the biggest name in music. Her single “Nothing Compares 2 U” was especially successful, topping the Hot 100 for 4 weeks and being named 1990’s #1 world single by Billboard. But then her career essentially came to a halt on the night of October 3, 1992. She was performing Bob Marley’s “War” on “Saturday Night Live” when she ripped up a picture of Pope John Paul II. The move was meant to protest abuse within the Catholic Church, but it only got O'Connor into heaps and heaps of trouble. NBC received thousands of complaints and other celebrities, including Joe Pesci and Madonna, viciously criticized her actions. And that was pretty much it for Sinéad O'Connor - at least as a chart-topping pop star.
#4: Malice at the Palace
Injuries notwithstanding, the Battle of Bramall Lane was borderline comedic. Malice at the Palace was, well, malicious. This was a basketball game between the Detroit Pistons and the Indiana Pacers. With less than 46 seconds left in the game, Pacer Ron Artest fouled Piston Ben Wallace. Wallace’s physical response to Artest’s act resulted in a brawl. The fight was brief, but then someone in the crowd threw a drink at Artest, prompting him to storm into the stands. He attacked who he thought was the thrower, when in reality this person was innocent. People attempted to pull Artest off the man, the situation escalated to include spectators, and before long, all Hell had broken loose. The police intervened and numerous people were charged with assault, including players and fans alike.
#3: The World Series Earthquake
The 1989 World Series is perhaps the most famous of the modern era. Not because of the games, but because of what happened before one. Shortly after the pre-game ceremony began for game three, the Loma Prieta Earthquake struck San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, interrupting the video feed and distracting sportscasters Tim McCarver and Al Michaels. Viewers at home were met with loud static, a “technical difficulties” graphic, and the creepy sound of screaming fans. Luckily, no one within the stadium was injured, despite its extensive shaking. In fact, the game is credited with saving lives, as people usually on the roads were either at the game or watching from their homes.
#2: Richard Belzer & Hulk Hogan
Back in the mid ‘80s, actor Richard Belzer hosted a cable talk show called “Hot Properties.” To promote the first WrestleMania, Belzer hosted the event’s marquee stars, Hulk Hogan and Mr. T. Belzer asked Hogan to demonstrate a wrestling move, so Hogan put him in a chinlock. However, Hogan took the bit a little too far and ended up knocking Belzer unconscious. He then dropped the limp Belzer to the ground. Belzer played it off after waking up, but it was obvious that he had been hurt. Belzer later sued Hogan for an undisclosed amount. He bought a farmhouse in France with the proceeds, which he named Chez Hogan.
#1: The Gary Stollman Incident
Back in August of 1988, a man named Gary Stollman strolled onto the set of KNBC and held TV presenter David Horowitz hostage. Stollman held a weapon to Horowitz’s back and ordered him to read a rambling manifesto filled with conspiracy theory gibberish. Viewers at home only witnessed the initial attack, as the feed was intentionally cut shortly afterwards. Horowitz then obliged the gunman, who was not aware that he had been taken off the air. The manifesto ended with the revelation that Stollman was actually holding an unloaded BB gun, and he placed it on the desk beside Horowitz. Stollman was promptly arrested and later pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of false imprisonment, resulting in three years’ probation.
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