The topic that Dilanian and Melvin were supposed to be discussing was the Trump administration’s transitional support to the Biden administration. Melvin asked Dilanian what he’s learned in terms of the American intelligence community and the upcoming transition. Dilanian didn’t address the question. Instead, there was the now-viral, awkward moment.
Dilanian looked down at his phone before muttering, “Oh st, fk.” Melvin pursed his lips before responding, “Okay.”
Needless to say, people on Twitter caught the obscenity-filled gaffe and shared it around.
Dilanian apologized on Twitter on Tuesday, and chalked the mistake up to some technical issues. He wrote, “So sorry for the profanity I used on air last hour. I was experiencing some technical difficulties and mistakenly hung up on the control room, though my mic still was on. Perils of playing producer, cameraman and tech support all at the same time from home.”
Even to his response, Twitter users asked Dilanian not to apologize. Many claimed the moment represented 2020 and the unpredictable nature of the year. The same point claimed the swears were relatable to viewers, and no one could truly blame Dilanian for using expletives. Others joked about the moment with the same underlying point.
Dilanian’s flub is far from the first time a news professional swore on live television. Today Show host Savannah Guthrie was caught saying “oh s***” on-air in 2018 and apologized in a similar fashion. “Check, check — is this thing on? Yeah I guess it is. So sorry guys,” she shared on Twitter. “Thanks for being kind and understanding. And guess it’s good thing I don’t wear a mic all day. #ohdarn.”
It could be a lot worse. In October, CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin was suspended from his job at The New Yorker after masturbating during a work video conference. In his apology he alleged that he was unaware of the camera. “I made an embarrassingly stupid mistake, believing I was off-camera. I apologize to my wife, family, friends and co-workers,” Toobin’s statement to Motherboard read. “I believed I was not visible on Zoom. I thought no one on the Zoom call could see me. I thought I had muted the Zoom video.”
