Top 10 Shocking Moments Caught on Live TV

Throughout its long and storied history, the Academy Awards have produced numerous incredible moments. But perhaps, none was as unexpected as this. When Chris Rock stepped out to present the award for Best Documentary Feature at the 2022 Oscars, no one could have foreseen how it would end. Rock made a joke about actress Jada Pinkett Smith’s shaved head, which wasn’t received well by her husband Will Smith. This led Smith to walk up to the comedian and hit him across the face, to the bewilderment of everyone watching. Less than an hour later, he picked up the Oscar for Best Actor. The incident wasn’t without its consequences. The Oscar-winning actor was given a 10-year ban from any Academy event.

In October 1992, Irish singer-songwriter Sinéad O’Connor appeared as the musical guest on an episode of “Saturday Night Live”. While performing a rendition of the Bob Marley song “War,” O’Connor took out a picture of Pope John Paul II, ripped it up and implied that he was the “real enemy”. The move, which was a protest against how the Catholic Church handled cases of sexual impropriety, came as a shock, not only to viewers, but also to the “SNL” crew. During rehearsals, O’Connor had held up a picture of a refugee child instead, reserving her true intentions for the live show. She was essentially blacklisted as a result, but maintained that she had no regrets about the protest.

Milli Vanilli saw an unprecedented rise in the late ‘80s with their debut album “Girl You Know It's True,” which earned them the Grammy for Best New Artist. But months before they took home the gold-plated gramophone, the duo performed a live concert on MTV that marked the beginning of their end. While singing their hit song “Girl You Know It’s True,” the track began to skip, repeating part of the chorus over and over again. Clearly panicked, the duo rushed off stage. The incident eventually led to the revelation that Milli Vanilli didn’t sing on any of their songs and had lip-synced through all of their performances. Their Grammy was revoked by the Academy and they were dropped by their record label.

In 2005, NBC broadcast an hour-long telethon dubbed “A Concert for Hurricane Relief” to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Kanye West was one of many celebrities who appeared on the program to shore up relief funds. During his segment, West took a sudden detour from the script, talking instead about things like negative media depictions and his own personal reaction to the tragedy. But even after his presenting partner, Mike Myers, continued with the script, it was obvious West was not done. The rapper proceeded to call out the president by name, leaving everyone stunned. Four years later, West would nearly outdo himself at the VMAs, when he infamously interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech.

Former Alaska reporter Charlo Greene made headlines in 2014 when she quit her job in a pretty dramatic fashion. Greene had covered the Alaska Cannabis Club and its efforts towards legalizing statewide recreational use of the substance. She then revealed that she was, in fact, the owner of the club and wanted to devote more time to the cause. This revelation was quickly followed with an expletive and an abrupt resignation live on air. Greene’s subsequent career as a cannabis advocate wasn’t all that rosy. In 2016, her club was raided by the authorities, who charged her with multiple criminal offenses carrying a possible 54-year prison sentence. She was spared jail time after pleading guilty to one felony count.

On September 21st 2005, JetBlue Flight 292 departed Burbank, California headed for New York City. However, soon after takeoff, the pilots realized that there was a problem with the landing gear. An immediate emergency landing would’ve been too risky, considering the amount of fuel the plane was carrying. As a result, the pilots circled the skies for hours, hoping to burn most of the flammable liquid. This drew the attention of national news outlets, who broadcast the event straight to the homes of millions of viewers and also to the passengers’ screens on the flight. Luckily, the pilots were able to make a safe, and pretty sparky, emergency landing that left everyone onboard unharmed.

Every year, the Super Bowl draws the largest audience for any television broadcast in the United States. In 2004, all of those eyes were glued to their screens when the now infamous wardrobe malfunction happened. Janet Jackson, who was one of the headlining acts for the halftime show, performed a medley of her songs and was later joined onstage by Justin Timberlake. Just as their duet of Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body” came to an end, he ripped off a part of Jackson’s top, revealing her breast for a split second. The rip was pre-planned, but the exposure was not. Regardless, it sparked a massive controversy across the country and had far-reaching consequences for Jackson’s career.

These days, emails are one of the most common means of online communication. But back in the 1980s, the technology was still relatively new in the public space. This led the BBC to launch a computer literacy project to teach people how to properly use the device. During one of such televised programs, as the hosts tried to show how to send and receive emails, they realized that they had been hacked. A series of strange messages flooded in, including the lyrics to a jaunty hackers’ song. While nothing grave occurred on air as a result of the incident, it understandably angered the email service provider, British Telecom, who had marketed the product as a secure platform.

For many who were alive at the time, the sight of a white Ford Bronco being chased down the Los Angeles freeway by numerous police cars is one that is forever etched in their minds. On June 17th 1994, former NFL star O. J. Simpson was charged with the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. Simpson had initially agreed to turn himself in that day, but instead he fled with his friend Al Cowlings, in a white Bronco. The chase lasted about two hours and was watched live by roughly 95 million people. Simpson was arrested at his home later that night, kicking off one of the most sensationalized criminal cases in American history.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Balloon Boy Admits It Was a Hoax
Falcon Heene Reveals to Wolf Blitzer That His Parents Staged the Entire Incident

Zinedine Zidane Head-Butts Opponent
The 2006 World Cup Final Took a Wild Turn When Zidane Head-Butted Marco Materazzi in the Chest

Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe Blunder
The Veteran Host Mistakenly Announced the Wrong Winner at the 2015 Pageant

On January 28th 1986, NASA launched the Space Shuttle Challenger into orbit from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This was no ordinary mission. Much publicity had been generated in the prior months around the inclusion of schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe, who was to become the first civilian in space. However, what should have been a celebratory moment quickly turned into one of horror. Just 73 seconds after liftoff, the shuttle exploded mid-air, killing all seven people onboard. The entire incident aired live on CNN, and was watched by thousands of children in schools across America. As a result of the tragedy, NASA suspended the Space Shuttle program for nearly three years and brought an end to its Teacher in Space project.