Top 10 TV Hosts Who Destroyed Their Careers on Air

Best known for his political roundtable show “Hardball with Chris Matthews” that launched in 1997, this host’s involvement in politics and journalism actually goes back decades. So, after a long career in the public eye, Matthews was already at the point of contemplating retirement. But a bizarre rant likening Bernie Sanders’ Nevada caucus win to the Nazi invasion of France brought on his retirement much sooner than planned. His comments sparked calls for resignation, and coincided with a new column published about inappropriate comments he’d allegedly made towards journalist Laura Bassett. Facing the fire from two fronts, Matthews met with his bosses at MSNBC and later resigned on air after offering apologies for his behavior.

Abdul’s career soared as one of the original judges on “American Idol,” but there were reports in the mid-2000s that behind the scenes she was struggling with substance abuse. A now-infamous Fox News interview in 2007 only encouraged these rumors. Paula slurred her words and struggled with her balance, to the point where Fox News had to address her behavior on air. Two years later, “Ladies Home Journal” would publish an interview in which Abdul said she was addicted to pain medication; Abdul claimed they’d fabricated quotes. Rumors also emerged that she’d clashed with “Idol” management, and Abdul and the show parted ways that same year. She’s been jumping from short-lived hosting gigs, reality TV and TV movies ever since.

We’ve mentioned foot-in-mouth disease and how dangerous it can be on live TV, but this next entry can only be described as a case of whole body-in-mouth disease. Sacramento reporter Angel Cardenas was getting the low down on an upcoming classic car show when – after noticing that he was alone in a room full of beautiful cars – he decided to make himself right at home, climbing on one car and possibly denting another. Cardenas was fired, obviously, but we can’t help but wonder if he wanted to be fired the whole time acting like this… Like, the dude didn’t even tuck his shirt in before going live on TV! He was either trying too hard or not trying hard enough…

After Paula Deen admitted to using racial slurs, her emergency PR strategy . . . was baffling. Essentially, it consisted of: showing up on National TV, crying and apologizing profusely, and making Biblical references about no one being without sin. This apology interview didn’t sit well with her critics, and nor did it win back any of her fleeing business partners. In fact, MORE businesses fled from “Deen Island” after this weak attempt at an apology, with both Caesars Entertainment and Walmart dropping her shortly after. In a short time span, one of the most popular celebrity chefs on the planet went from being on National TV with The Food Network, to appearing on smaller, local cable channels, and now self-publishing on YouTube.

If you never wanted to be invited back to co-host a show again, we couldn’t think of a better strategy than Kelly Osbourne’s when she appeared on “The View” in 2015. Responding to Donald Trump’s description of Mexican immigrants as “rapists”, Osbourne wondered who would clean Trump’s toilet. Now, we know she was trying to make a point about Trump’s attitude toward America’s Mexican community, and that her message got hella-twisted from her brain to her mouth. But we don’t foresee her being invited back to host “The View” anytime soon. Her career hasn’t exactly been stellar since, as she left “Fashion Police” that same year and has been hopping between competition shows and family endeavors since.

Not even a 15 year run as a news reporter and TV host could save the high-profile Kelly when she defended blackface on her show “Megyn Kelly Today” in 2018. In a discussion about why donning blackface is inappropriate on Halloween, Megyn failed to see the seriousness of it, saying it was routine when she was a kid and questioned whether it was racist. She received slight pushback from her co-hosts at the time, but the worst of the backlash came via Twitter and Kelly was forced to apologize on air the very next day. The apology was for naught, as only three days after making the remarks, Megyn’s show was cancelled, and she was fired a few months later.

The world of TV competition shows can be mean at times – just ask Simon Cowell, who made a living out of being blunt and insensitive towards performers. But Natalia’s tirade against a young contestant on New Zealand’s “The X Factor” was a level of cruelty that even made Cowell uncomfortable, later calling her outburst “hateful” and “mad”. Natalia called out Joe Irvine in 2015 for copying her husband’s style, saying his performance was “disgusting” and that he was a “laughing stock”. Meanwhile, her husband Willy Moon said Irvine looked like “Psycho’s” Norman Bates. The rant left much of the world wondering . . . who ARE Willy Moon and Kills anyway?! Well, after being fired for their comments, they’re now Internet Famous at least.

File this one under: So Funny He Should Have Kept His Job… Rookie newscaster Clemente was on his first day at the anchor desk – and super stressed – when he dropped an F-Bomb just as the show was going live. And, the rest, is viral video infamy! It was so popular that A.J. even did a media tour talking about the epic gaffe. And, while we understand why A.J. couldn’t have kept his job in live TV after such a careless mistake, we’re still laughing at this video seven years later; and, seeing as this single video has brought us so much joy, we really hope A.J. landed on his feet after being canned and is enjoying a happy, healthy life.

With the news industry in such a precarious place in the era of social media over the past decade, finding out that respected newsman Brian Williams lied in order to make his reporting sound more heroic came as an epic letdown in 2015. Williams made up a story about him being on a helicopter that came under fire in Iraq in 2003, and the public (and professional) outburst when it was revealed this wasn’t true forced NBC to suspend him for six months without pay. After so many years at the helm of NBC’s flagship news show in “NBC Nightly News,” Williams’ fabrications led to his demotion to MSNBC where he’s been ever since.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few dishonorable mentions:

Natasha Exelby Caught Napping

Danyelle Sargent Refers to a Dead Man

Lara Logan Gets it Wrong on Benghazi

Jimmy the Greek Gets Racist

Lydia Cummings Chooses Shoes Over Compassion

Bush was made co-host on NBC’s “Today” after many years of co-hosting “Access Hollywood Live.” But his tenure at “Today” was short-lived after a previously unreleased tape of himself and (soon-to-be President) Donald Trump was uncovered that contained some pretty heinous remarks about women. Now, as we all know, Trump was definitely the most offensive in this recording – what with his now infamous “grab them by the pussy” line. But Bush was also widely criticized for encouraging Trump’s misogynistic behavior; and, he was later suspended from “Today” and eventually fired from NBC entirely. Bush wasn’t heard from for almost three whole years after the incident either, until it was announced that he’d be taking over as host of “Extra” from Mario Lopez in 2019.