May 13, 2008
Sue Simmons Drops F-Bomb On-Air (Though Off-Camera)
Beloved WNBC anchor Sue Simmons was doing a promo during the 10 p.m. hour for the 11 p.m. news broadcast, when she went from describing a story about food prices going up and the weight of food products going down to saying "What the fuck are you doing?!" (See video above.) When the 11 p.m. broadcast rolled around, there was no mention of the mishap until after the lead stories were out of the way and then Simmons faced the camera:
"We need to acknowledge an unfortunate mistake that i made in one of the teases we bring to you before this program. While we were live, just after 10 o'clock, I said a word that many people find offensive. I'm truly sorry it was a mistake on my part and I sincerely apologize."WNBC did not have comment for the Daily News, and the Post says it's unclear who Simmons was screaming at. Three years ago, reporter Arthur Chi'en was fired from WCBS 2 after he asked two men--one Opie & Anthony intern and one Howard Stern flunky--who were harassing him, "What the fuck's your problem, man?" (See the video after the jump.)
Chi'en did not realize he was on air, but WCBS 2 still fired him. A year later, an arbitrator found the station acted wrongly, saying Chi'en should have been reprimanded instead, pointed out "the evidence reveals that Mr. Chi'en did not intend for his words to be heard on-air, that this was a singular incident in which the word 'fuck' was used outside any sexual context, that the Station did not receive a single complaint about the incident."
More hilarious moments in Sue Simmons' on-air WNBC history:
Falling out of a chair
Her Groundhog impression:
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Funny...I really wonder what the context was. Interestingly, she seems to emphasize the "you" rather than the "fuck" or the "doing". Curious.
That woman is nasty.
Aha! I knew I wasn't hearing things. I took a few seconds for it to sink in, then I couldn't keep my mind on Medium. It was both funny and sickening at the same time. Another anchor bites the dust.
oh come on-- everyone makes mistakes. maybe a camera fell on her foot. sue's been one of the best anchors in the city for decades-- one silly mishap shouldn't ruin that kind of career.
Wow. It sounds like she went with dropping the what, as in "the fuck are you doing?"
I would fire her if I were NBC. She's sitting at the anchor desk in the studio, and she's probably cursing at a colleague. And it's prime time. Way worse than Ch'ien (who now rules Ch 11).
Can you imagine Sue Simmons off camera? I mean if you're an anchor for this long, forced NOT to curse, that's ALL you do when the camera's not on you. There was probably an extra stirring rod in her mocha latte and some unfortunate Connecticut School of Broadcasting intern is now plotting to go postal. Worst thing about TV personalities is their personality.
They better not fire her! Everyone loves Sue Simmons! New York wouldn't be New York without her. She's awesome! She's fun! It wouldn't be Groundhog Day without her! If she gets the boot I'm leading a picket of NBC!
Sigh, and now we're going to have to deal with the 'backlash', all the mothers who are like, "oh no, my children's virgin ears are all defiled now!!" and call for the FCC to drop the hammer.
Even though in reality her children's virgin ears have already been deflowered by other kids at school.
Why are they doing a live promo spot?? They couldn't record something 10 minutes earlier?
big deal
Looks like I found my new ringtone!
That's a great f-bomb!
God sakes. People. I swear.
Don't know why they're picking on poor Sue Simmons. Everybody knows she's just a crazy old woman. People got nothing better to do. She's been around here so long, everyone knows she's nutty as a loon. Just leave her be.
I swear.
Take one look at Sue and I think you can safely assume that by now she is certainly a diva off-camera.
I'd presume the emphasis on "YOU" was a retaliatory towards someone who must've asked HER what SHE was doing earlier.
Here's how it most certainly went down:
Sue messed something up or didn't know where she was on a teleprompter read and a producer said "Sue, what are you doing? We're about to read this!" and then a few seconds later they fucked up the graphic and showed the cruise ship by accident and Sue, still incensed from being reprimanded by a lowly producer just seconds before, JUMPED at the chance to say "what the fuck are YOU doing".
Touché!
Sue Simmons is awesome.
it's no secret that Sue Simmons is one nasty b*tch both on and off the set. can't believe it took this long for her to show her true colors on air. that "apology" was pathetic.
Jen, why dont you give the same context to that f-bomb like you did for Ch'ien?
Either way, saying the f word should not be a big deal. I didn't think Ch'ien should be fired, and I don't think Simmons should be fired either. At least not for that word.
Fire her because she's old, and not so pleasing on the eyes.
THIS is funnier:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/05/12/blast-from-the-past-bill-oreilly-gone-wild-drops-f-bombs-on-the-set/
C'mon, this is New York City, people. I'm amazed they can report the news in this city at all without liberal use of the F-bomb! I know I have trouble telling a story without it.
Sue Simmons is great, I've been around her at events and seen her in my nabe. Haven't actually met her, but she doesn't seem like a bitch at all. I was standing near her at the MAC awards last week (offstage) and she was lovely. If it was Chuck, you guys wouldn't be saying he's old and ready to go. Things like this happen.
The #1 Nasty Newscaster is Sam Donaldson. I've seen off-camera video of him and he talks to everyone around him like they're his peons.
I think she said it to Chuck because it seemed like he was dozing off and she was just trying to wake him up. Think about it.
Um... I go with they fired an editor that was doing the promo spot, or she pissed him off personally. He then retaliated by slipping that shit in. Makes more sense than them just by chance picking up that one thing she said and nothing else. But when so much of tv is scripted, I guess it's hard for people to tell the difference sometimes.
How can they note fire her? Ron Burgundy was fired and he was set up. You stay classy, Sue Simmons.
maybe shes been secretly hanging out with M.r Oddo from Staten Island
Who the fuck cares? This is NYC, not Peoria.
[blockquote]Why are they doing a live promo spot?? They couldn't record something 10 minutes earlier?[/blockquote]
I always though myself those promos were always taped and never live. Is there any particular reason why NBC does live promos? It should have been taped.
I always though myself those promos were always taped and never live. Is there any particular reason why NBC does live promos? It should have been taped.
Love it. Had to come back to hear it again.
She better not get fired. She's my favorite news anchor.
not sue simmons. I fucking love sue simmons. Her and chuck. But this incident makes me feel that she's disingenuous to her perky personality. I know she's only human but I don't want to watch humans on TV.
The anchors are sitting around anyway, and it's not worth the effort to tape a 30-second promo.
Most promos are live, even the network promos that appear during the local news at 5 or 6. Chuck did a second 15-second live promo at 11:45 (without Sue).
She was talking to OPEC.
I am an ex NY'er and I still remember her. I wish her well because I know she is gonna catch hell for it.
I'd love to give more context to how Sue dropped the f-bomb if there were more details (the Chi'en incident was caught on tape). My guess is similar to what other people have said--maybe the Teleprompter went down and she didn't have the script for that part of the tease.
And everyone, rent Broadcast NEws!
This reminds me of the famous Eyewitness News incident back in '83, when Mara Wolynski didn't know she was on camera and flipped the bird at somebody behind the camera. Roger Grimsby broke the ice by quipping on-camera, "Well, as Mara Wolynski would say, we're number one!" Cracked up poor Bill Beutel.
Hey look, human people with human emotion. I love NY.
not a big deal. if you're watching it and haven't heard the word, it's time to learn the word. because you're eventually going to learn how to love the word, and use it as effectively as she did. so yes, welcome to the world where adults live and say "fuck" when it's appropriate to say "fuck."
as in, fuck the fcc and the station if they've got any problem with what came out there.
keep sue around...
It's a coarser world than it used to be.
www.forgotten-ny.com
SUE RULES!
She's for New Yawk!
The post is down. You Tube pulled it.
Must've offended the tourists.
god dammit now is the possibly the only time we need toby von meistesinger to give some insight and he's gone! irony!
Seriously, she made one mistake. It would be really stupid to fire her over this little thing. Besides, I'm sure crazier shit goes on over at Channel 1 on a daily basis.
Kudos to her for making me smile today after a root canal.
I'm sure that's what everyone in the newsroom said after she came back with her facelift. Either way, she's a minor treasure and belongs in that amber of old media pretending to be important to people who routinely say "fuck" and don't give a shit.
Check out NBC's new segment staring Monday where Sue Simmons interviews interesting New Yorkers. It's called, "What the fuck are YOU doing?"