Top 20 Times People Were Fired or Quit on Live TV

Considered one of the best Formula One drivers of all time, Austrian racer Niki Lauda moved into punditry and commentating work after retiring from the sport in 1985. The three-time World Champion often worked for the German TV channel RTL for their racing coverage, giving viewers expert knowledge on the races. In November 2017, as the program was covering the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lauda suddenly announced his departure from the broadcaster, as flabbergasted hosts Florian König and Nico Rosberg absorbed the news. After 21 years at RTL, the legendary driver felt the time was appropriate to leave. Sadly, only two years later, Lauda passed away from kidney complications.

After hanging up his boots, Gus Poyet transitioned into a football manager. By 2013, he was in charge of Brighton & Hove Albion, a position he had held since 2009. That June, with Brighton having lost on promotion to the Premier League after losing in the Championship Play-Offs, the Uruguayan was working for the BBC as a pundit, covering Spain against Nigeria in the FIFA Confederations Cup. During half-time, host Mark Chapman announced that Brighton had issued a statement that Poyet had been fired. The former midfielder had only found out when the production staff gave him the announcement. A bemused Poyet was astonished that this is how he found out, as he had no communication from Brighton. Yikes.

Born in England, Mal Walden relocated to Australia and had a legendary reign as a news anchor for Network Ten before retiring in 2013. With a career filled with highlights, one of his biggest happened in March 1987. At the time, Walden was leading the Seven Network’s HSV-7 news team. At the time, Seven Network had recently been sold by News Limited to Fairfax. As such, there was speculation that sweeping changes were incoming. Just minutes before he went on air, Walden was told that he was fired by the new management. The frustrated news anchor informed the audience this was his last bulletin as he was being booted out.

When news anchors leave a station, traditionally, the situation is addressed on air, and they get to say goodbye to the audience and their co-workers. But in September 2022, Lynette Romero, after over two decades with KTLA, abruptly left the channel to work with KNBC. Shortly after, her former co-host Mark Mester went off script while on air. He apologized to the viewers for how Romero’s departure was handled by the channel and slated the rudeness by management. After Mester emotionally described Romero as his best friend, he criticized the show’s general manager. Shortly after, the anchor was suspended by KTLA before he was fired a couple of days later.

From 2006, play-by-play announcer Glen Kuiper had been synonymous with the Californian MLB team Oakland Athletics. But in May 2023, he threw that storied history away. At the time, Kupier was doing the pregame broadcast alongside Dallas Braden for The A’s before they took on the Kansas City Royals. He was meant to talk about his experience that day of visiting the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri. Instead of saying the name correctly, he uttered a racial slur. Even though Kupier apologized on air, claiming he had mispronounced the word, the damage was done, and the inevitable was coming. After being suspended, within a couple of weeks, the veteran broadcaster was fired by Oakland Athletics.

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. are all fondly remembered as figures in the legendary Rat Pack group. But one member who’s often forgotten about is Joey Bishop. After his sitcom ended in 1965, he transitioned the title of it, “The Joey Bishop Show,” into a talk show in 1967. The program was noted for Bishop’s sidekick and announcer Regis Philbin getting his big break. But by December 1969, things had changed for Bishop. As the comedian performed his monologue, he suddenly announced this was the last show, shocking the audience in the studio and at home. Bishop then left the set, leaving Philbin to host the rest of the show by himself.

Back in the 1990s, the Monday Night War was underway as WWE faced WCW in a rating battle. During this, wrestlers often switched companies for better deals and pushes. In 1999, Jeff Jarrett's contract had expired, and he was off to WCW. However, he was the Intercontinental Champion in WWE. Double J reportedly held the company hostage for a six-figure sum to drop the title to Chyna before leaving, which WWE owner Vince McMahon reluctantly agreed to. In 2001, WWE purchased WCW. As fans frothed at the mouths with dream match-ups, McMahon took one out of the equation brutally. Appearing on “WWE Raw” in March to announce the deal, he got his revenge by publicly firing Jarrett by famously saying he was “GOONNEE!”

For around 15 years, Elysse Morgan worked for ABC News in Australia, eventually becoming one of the program’s main business reporters. She famously hosted the segment “The Business” on the show that focussed on financial news. In December 2022, Morgan discussed the monetary losses of various tech companies throughout the year before transitioning to statistics of people that had been fired compared to those that left their job willingly. At this point, the host mentioned she was leaving her role on the news program to “go and do finance.” Morgan had gotten a position with investment firm Stafford Capital Partners, which began in 2023.

After getting his big break with ESPN and “SportsCenter,” by 2003, Keith Olbermann had arrived at MSNBC to host his own political show, “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” By late 2010, his relationship with the broadcaster reached a boiling point when it was discovered Olbermann had donated to political campaigns without MSNBC’s approval. After a brief suspension, he returned to his show. But in January 2011, while on air, Olbermann announced this was his last show on the network and thanked numerous members of staff for their work over the years, leaving out specific management. Not long after the shocking event, it was announced that Current TV would host “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” which lasted until 2012.

Not many pro athletes have made such a statement when heading off for new pastures. In January 2021, the highly decorated NFL wide receiver Antonio Brown played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they took on the New York Jets. Instead of celebrating the win, discussions were on Brown’s astonishing actions. In the third quarter, he removed his kit and waved goodbye to the fans before departing the stadium. Afterward, head coach Bruce Arians stated to the media that Brown was no longer with the franchise, and his contract release was announced shortly after. Arians claimed he had tried to bring Brown on in the game, but he refused, while Brown claimed the Bucs had covered up his ankle injury.

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.