Top 10 News Bloopers That Happened During Serious Reports

This Fox 8 reporter thought she was simply delivering your average DUI story, until things took a crazy detour. The incident involved 34-year-old Jose Cruz, who was arrested for driving under the influence and brought in for a breathalyzer test. But then, in a move no one saw (or smelled) coming, Cruz passed gas and deliberately wafted it toward the arresting officer. This led to him being charged with battery. The story was so absurd that the reporter couldnt even keep it together and had to hand things off to her co-anchor. While Cruz still faced DUI charges, the battery accusation didnt stick. Unfortunately, the same cant be said for the odor.

The year is 1996. KARK Channel 4 reporter Isiah Carey is on-site in Arkansas, covering the tragic death of an adult chaperone during a high school football game. Its supposed to be a somber segment, and thats how it begins, until a grasshopper crashes the broadcast by flying straight into Careys mouth. In an instant, his professional front shatters. Gone is the cool baritone newscaster voice. In its place is a shrieking, expletive-filled meltdown delivered with a thick Southern twang. Even the camera operator couldnt hold it together and ended up laughing in the background. And just like that, the solemn moment is hijacked by an insect with impeccable comedic timing.

Airing the wrong clip can turn an earnest story into unintentional comedy. Just ask WPEC sports anchor Pat Murphy. Back in 2007, Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett suffered a devastating injury during a game that nearly left him paralyzed. Luckily, he made a full recovery and regained his mobility. But when Murphy was reporting on this story, the editor cued up the wrong footage; instead of Everett, viewers saw an alleged robber being wheeled into a courtroom. Somehow, the two stories, which were very serious in nature, came together to create a hilarious moment. Murphy quickly clarified that it was the wrong video, but it was already too late to stop the internet from doing its thing.

Being an experienced reporter means knowing when you need to pause, especially when transitioning between two different stories. That was a lesson that CBS 5 anchor Ken Bastida seemed to forget briefly. In this clip, Bastida casually mentions that co-anchor Dana King is out of the office and, without so much as a breath, dives straight into a grim report about a man who was murdered. The way it was said made it sound like King had been the unfortunate victim. To be fair, the real victims name and photo did appear shortly after. Regardless, one can only imagine King watching at home, suddenly questioning how she managed to survive being killed and set on fire.

BBC's Middle East correspondent Quentin Sommerville had one job to do: deliver a serious report on Afghanistans sprawling drug trade. To add a bit of visual punch, Sommerville was placed in front of a burning heap of confiscated narcotics. Bad idea. Just seconds into the segment, the fumes hit, sending Sommerville into a fit of laughter. And every attempt he made to pull himself together only made the situation worse. The fumes seemed to also trap the camera crew in their crosshairs, as you can also hear their chuckles in the background. Somewhere in this chaotic report is a PSA on the perils of secondhand smoke, but well let the health experts handle that one.

The last thing you want to hear at a Home Depot is someone announcing that theyre fixin to blow [the place] up. So when that exact phrase was uttered at a store in Wichita, Kansas in 2019, it understandably set off alarms. The incident was later reported by this KY3 news anchor, only for her to realize that the man in question was merely warning everyone about an impending bathroom emergency. As the truth sank in, she was reduced to a ball of laughter and pointed fingers at her co-anchor for letting her read that story. From there, neither of them was able to fully regain their composure, and their persistent giggles spilled over into the subsequent segments.

The more detailed a police sketch is, the better the odds of catching the culprit. At least, thats the theory, but this case seemed to prove otherwise. After a man robs a store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, his sketch is sent to this newsroom to help broadcast the image. As soon as the anchor sets his eyes on the sparsely detailed, cartoonish sketch, you can see him struggle to keep it together. And yet, against all odds, the drawing actually works. Police manage to track down and apprehend the perpetrator, 44-year-old Hung Phuoc Nguyen. The moral of the story? Always believe in yourself, even if youre a police sketch artist with the skills of a kindergartener.

In July 2013, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 departed Seoul for San Francisco, but unfortunately, it crashed just before landing, resulting in the loss of three lives. Viewers around the world got timely updates about the situation from news outlets, but those who tuned in to San Franciscos KTVU got nothing close to the actual facts. During a segment about the crash, the anchor confidently listed the names of the four pilots who were on board. Except, those names were fake and quite blatantly so. What makes the moment particularly ludicrous is that not a single person from the graphics designer to the editor to the anchor seemed to notice there was, in fact, something wrong with the names.

51-year-old twin sisters Bridgette and Paula Powers had quite an eventful day on April 21st 2025. Their mother had rushed to help a carjacking victim, only to be threatened at gunpoint by the assailant. Later that day, the sisters recounted the ordeal to 7News Queensland, but while the story itself was intense, what really caught viewers attention was how they told it. Bridgette and Paula talked in unison, synchronizing their statements and even finishing each others sentences like they had previously rehearsed the routine. Could it be twin telepathy or just a freaky coincidence? No one knows. But one things for sure, it was more than just a little unsettling.

Political science professor Robert E. Kelly and his family became global sensations in 2017 when a BBC interview took a very unexpected turn. Kelly, who is an expert on Korean relations, was discussing the impeachment of South Koreas president in a virtual interview from his apartment in Busan when he was upstaged by his own daughter. Shortly after, her younger brother made a grand entrance of his own in a baby walker. Then came their mother, who burst into the room with the urgency of a long-anticipated superhero in a Marvel movie, and dragged them out. Its the kind of chaos that could sink a reputation or launch it into the stratosphere. Luckily for Kelly, it was very much the latter.

Which of these news bloopers did you catch live? Let us know in the comments below.