NBCSome news anchors go their entire career without achieving viral success. Newbie anchor A.J. Clemente did it in the first few seconds of his first time on air by uttering, "F--kin' s--t."
The incident—which occurred on Bismarck, N.D.'s local KFYR-TV—happened while an oblivious Clemente was practicing pronouncing London marathon winner Tsegaye Kebede's name and finding it quite difficult.
From the looks of it, it may have also scarred coanchor Van Tieu for life. Calm down, Van Tieu!
(Warning: This video contains language that may be offensive to some listeners.)
Clemente, who made it no secret on Twitter that he was nervous about his first day, tweeted afterwards, "That couldn't have gone any worse!"
And that's apparently not an exaggeration on Clemente's part. It literally could not have gone worse.
KFYR released a statement explaining that, "He did not realize his microphone was on, but still, that's no excuse. WE train our reporters to always assume that any microphone is live at any time" and revealed that, pending further review, Clemente had been "suspended."
Today, as Van Tieu began treatment for her PTSD, Clemente took to Twitter again to announce that he'd been fired. "Unfortunately KFYRTV has decided to let me go," he tweeted. Thank you to them and everyone in ND for the opportunity and everyone for the support."
He good-naturedly continued, "Rookie mistake. I'm a free agent. Cant help but laugh at myself and stay positive. Wish i didnt trip over my 'Freaking Shoes' out of the gate."
Look on the bright side, A.J.: Everyone knows your name! And everyone seems to love you:
"Everyone makes a mistake now and again, so let them off the hook and proceed as normal," one commenter on KFYR's Facebook wrote, racking up nearly 800 likes. "We can all have a sympathetic chuckle. (And feel a little better about our own goofs.)"
So we have a feeling you'll bounce back just fine, A.J. And we have our fingers crossed that you'll bounce back emotionally too, Van Tieu!