Top 10 Times People Were Fired or Quit on Live TV

Over the years, Fox News has garnered a reputation for its conservative leanings and support of like-minded politicians. However, one pundit who stood out in that regard was Shepard Smith. First joining the team in 1996, Smith wasn’t known to be someone who let his opinion be compromised. He consistently criticized former president Donald Trump, who would often criticize him back. In 2019, after feeling strain among his contemporaries, Smith announced his resignation live on his show. Despite the non-specific locker room drama, Smith handled the announcement professionally, having previously informed his superiors. He subsequently made the move to CNBC, where he worked until 2022.

2022 was a turbulent year for the social media platform, as its acquisition by business magnate Elon Musk brought with it a whole slew of controversies. In November of that year, Musk laid off nearly half of the workforce before issuing an ultimatum to the rest. He said they had to commit to an “extremely hardcore” work ethic within two weeks, else they resign. Naturally, hundreds of employees refused to adopt the new system, and a few found a fun way to ring in their unemployment. With the deadline looming, five employees were filmed counting down the seconds. Granted, it wasn’t technically live, but it was posted to Twitter - of course - immediately after, so we’re counting it anyway. Mostly because it’s just too good.

Without a doubt our oldest instance of live resignation, this one came all the way back in 1960. “Tonight Starring Jack Paar” ran from 1957 to 1962, and would eventually become the “Tonight Show” we know and love today. But there was a three-week period within that run in which Paar had technically resigned. During one show - for which only the audio has survived - Paar was blindsided when NBC censors replaced a joke about toilets with news coverage. Known to be temperamental, Paar hastily announced his departure live on air, saying “There must be a better way of making a living than this.” After being persuaded to return, Paar came back and answered his three-week old query with, “There isn’t.”

Two on-air resignations for the price of one. In 2012, Bangor, Maine anchors Cindy Michaels and Tony Consiglio kept their sudden departure from the station a secret from their coworkers… until they had a camera in their face. They were purposefully vague about the why of it all, but Michaels later told the Bangor Daily News that the treatment of staff from higher up was unacceptable. In any case, she and Consiglio handled the on-air announcement with poise, with the former even plugging her future endeavors. It’s just too bad that they didn’t get to appreciate that new set.

We all can get a little nervous when starting a new gig, but most of us don’t have the added pressure of being live on TV for it. A.J. Clemente did, and he might’ve set the record for the quickest on-air firing. In 2013, Clemente joined his first broadcast in Bismarck, North Dakota, but commemorated the moment with some choice expletives right off the bat. Apparently Clemente didn’t realize he was live, with his comments slightly throwing off co-anchor Van Tieu. Tieu tries to introduce him, but Clemente’s jitters continue, saying something to the effect that he’s “used to being from the east coast?” Obviously, Clemente was fired almost immediately after, but he definitely gave the Internet a chuckle or two.

Beginning in 1997, Chris Matthews hosted his show “Hardball” on CNBC and MSNBC for twenty-three years. But in 2020, it was a scandal that prompted him to hang it up for good. Or so it seemed at the time. At the top of the show, Matthews announced that he was retiring, citing multiple factors, most notably his inappropriate comments toward women. Throughout his career, Matthews had been called out for sexist speech directed at people like Melania Trump and Sarah Palin. An inappropriate exchange with journalist Laura Bassett had most recently come to light, likely leading to the resignation. The retirement didn’t last too long, though, as Matthews returned to MSNBC as a political analyst in 2022.

Forget the Twitter guys - this might be the most creative way to quit over the airwaves. The web hosting company GoDaddy has become known for their memorable and often provocative Super Bowl commercials over the years. But their spot during the 2014 game had some real-world implications. Alongside actor John Turturro, Gwen Dean quit her job as an operator of refrigeration machinery in the middle of the commercial to pursue her dream of starting her own puppet performance company. It turns out Ted really was watching, and texted Dean immediately to tell her how much he loved the ad. Sure, Dean wasn’t technically live at the time, but the commercial sure was, and it was glorious.

Thom Brennaman falls into the camp of A.J. Clemente, only his blunder was way, way worse. In 2020, Brennaman was working as the announcer for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. But his employment with the team came to an abrupt end when he was caught on a hot mic. Unaware he was live, Brennaman was heard using an anti-gay slur to describe the city of San Francisco. In the second game of that day’s doubleheader, Brennaman was yanked from the booth, but not before he addressed the situation. Well, that and the home run ball from Nick Castellanos. While Brennaman wasn’t officially suspended until later that night, pretty much everyone knew he was done, including him.

Liz Wahl is an American journalist, but she worked at the US branch of the Russian TV network RT from 2011 to 2014. In February and March of 2014, Russia enacted the Annexation of Crimea, which was illegal under international law. Wahl, incensed over how RT was downplaying Russian president Vladimir Putin’s actions, stepped down during a live broadcast. The clip immediately went viral, with Wahl’s decision garnering mixed reactions both within and outside RT. Wahl went on to report for Newsy, and in 2020 announced her candidacy for the US House of Representatives in the state of Texas. She, however, wasn’t elected.

Quitting on air doesn’t get any more meta than this. In 2014, Charlo Greene was working as an anchor for a station in Anchorage, Alaska. She was reporting on a story about a medical marijuana club when she suddenly revealed that she was the owner of said club. She then completely burned her bridges by announcing she was leaving the station to devote all her time to marijuana reform and letting out a word you really can’t say on live TV. You seriously couldn’t write this stuff, but the story gets weirder. In 2015, Greene’s club was raided by local police, who then arrested and charged her with multiple counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance. Greene avoided jail time, but paid a hefty fine.