History Main / IsThisThingStillOn

* ''A Colder War'', a Franchise/CthulhuMythos short story by Creator/CharlesStross. TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt (World War Three with EldritchAbomination weapons) comes about because Ronald Reagan makes his "bombing in five minutes" joke (see "RealLife") before a live mic just when Iran has launched a nuclear attack on Iraq.

* ''[[Literature/PriscillaHutchins Cauldron]]'' by Creator/JackMcDevitt. A spacecraft makes a BlindJump into an unexplored system and almost hits an asteroid. Unfortunately the captain's OhCrap was recorded on the black box and by law they can't rewrite it. He admits it won't exactly rank with "one giant leap" as Famous First Words of history.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* The old airline joke was used as the basis of a ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' joke:
-->A squad of Sisters of Battle were all being inserted by dropship.\\
The male pilot comes on the radio and says, "We are just entering the atmosphere now and will be landing at base alpha zero zero in half an hour."\\
The pilot forgets to switch off the intercom and turns to his male co-pilot and asks, "So what are you going to do when we've landed?"\\
The co-pilot says, "Well firstly; I'm gonna have a HUGE dump, 3 day anti-grav flights don't do my bowels any good. Then I'm gonna go see that new lieutenant, you know, the one with the dark hair and huge breasts, take her out, wine her, dine her, then I'm gonna take her to my quarters..." he then proceeds to go into graphic detail of the night's animalistic loving.\\
The new lieutenant, horrified at the detail spewing from the speakers about various uses for the butt of the co-pilot's las-pistol, runs down the aisle to switch off the intercom, trips over a boltgun, and lands flat on her face.\\
A new recruit sitting opposite turns and says, "Whoa! Calm down, Ma'am! He's gotta take that shit first!"
[[/folder]]

** "[[Recap/SouthParkS13E1TheRing The Ring]]" shows WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse as a [[AxCrazy violent]], [[CorruptCorporateExecutive manipulative]], [[BadBoss domineering]], [[NiceCharacterMeanActor portrayal of his original self]], who used the Music/JonasBrothers to sell sexual stimulation to young girls while giving the false appearance of innocence and purity by having them promote purity rings at their concerts. When [[LovableSexManiac Kenny]] and his 5th grader girlfriend [[GoodBadGirl Tammy Warner]] attend the Jonas Brothers' latest concert, they start wearing purity rings and as a result, they become a dull and boring ChastityCouple and hang out with other chastity couples who wear the same rings. When Stan, Kyle, and Eric hear about this, they head off to confront the Jonas Brothers at a televised appearance in Denver, only to be tranquilized by MickeyMouse, who mistakes them for [=DreamWorks=] secret agents sent to sabotage the televised appearance, and takes the three boys prisioner backstage at the Televised Jonas Brothers' 3D Concert Spectacular at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. As soon as MickeyMouse starts going on about [[MotiveRant how using the Jonas Brothers to sell purity rings and sexual stimulation to little girls helps him make money by]] [[RealLifeWritesThePlot making little girls' ginies tingle,]] [[CrossesTheLineTwice and how easily he can fool Christians for years, since Christians are retards who believe in a talking dead guy,]] Kyle turns on a microphone to broadcast Mickey's words to the audience, while Eric pushes the switch the raises the stage's curtains, [[AccidentalPublicConfession revealing the truth behind]] [[Music/TheJonasBrothers the Jonas Brothers' concerts]] [[ExplainExplainOhCrap to the entire audience,]] [[LaserGuidedKarma prompting them to turn on Mickey and boo him, which ruins the Televised Jonas Brothers' 3D Concert Spectacular.]]

-->'''Kane:''' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWVzG2_WGI4#t=56s Is that camera still running...?!]] \\

* In the original ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn Command & Conquer]]'', after a GDI mission in which you saved a town from being wiped out by Nod, there is a cinematic featuring a reporter in front of a scene of destruction, claiming that the town was wiped out by GDI. It then cuts to a green-screen in a studio, where [[BigBad Kane]] begins to give orders on the distribution of the propaganda video, before noticing the camera and shooting it.

** In "Yes, Always", Pinky and the Brain take the roles of a director and Creator/OrsonWelles in an almost word-for-word recreation (with a few words changed for the intended audience) of the famous "Frozen Peas" recording. This includes the director / Pinky muttering, "At the moment", and then it diverges for a few seconds out of the whole thing when he realizes he's standing on the microphone button, at which point Brain remarks, "I ''heard'' that."

** In "Yes, Always", Pinky and the Brain take the roles of a director and Creator/OrsonWelles in an almost word-for-word recreation (with a few words changed for the intended audience) of the famous "Frozen Peas" recording. This includes the director / Pinky muttering, "For the moment", then it diverges for a few seconds out of the whole thing when he realizes he's standing on the microphone button, at which point Brain remarks, "I ''heard'' that."

* In the ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2240.html take]] on the opening scene of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Jim, as Allan Dameron, is in communication with General Hux, and badly claiming to be Snoke. General Leia, who can hear both sides of this, contacts him on a secure channel to say that he just needs to distract them for one more minute. Jim says he's switching his radio to "single transmission" to say "Don't worry, General, we've got this in the bag". And as Leia tries to regain contact, Hux says that in that case, they'll continue the attack. Taken further in [[https://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2241.html the following strip]], in which Jim tries to fix this and manages to cut ''himself'' of while connecting Leia and Hux to ''each other''.

* In the ''Webcomic/DarthsAndDroids'' [[http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/2240.html take]] on the opening scene of ''Film/TheLastJedi'', Jim, as Allan Dameron, is in communication with General Hux, and badly claiming to be Snoke. General Leia, who can hear both sides of this, contacts him on a secure channel to say that he just needs to distract them for one more minute. Jim says he's switching his radio to "single transmission" to say "Don't worry, General, we've got this in the bag". And as Leia tries to regain contact, Hux says that in that case, they'll continue the attack.

* Moral from the beginning of ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. Never rant about your evil plan in the audio room. Just don't. [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist Whichever version you are living in]].

* In the ShowWithinAShow for ''Anime/LuckyStar'', after the two hosts for Lucky Channel went off on a rampage, the "executive producer" is heard talking about how he had his doubts about them from the very beginning, before an underling informs him that the cameras are rolling, and he frantically orders someone to shut them off.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants'' episode "Evil Spatula" Plankton has given [=SpongeBob=] a spatula that he claims can talk, but really it is Plankton who talks to through a microphone, so he try and get the Krabby Patty recipe off him. At one point he becomes excited that his plan is working and tells Karen it's time to go to the next step, all while the microphone is still on, but [=SpongeBob=] doesn't know what is going on and just laughs with his evil laughter.
* Used in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SushiPack'' to give the villain of the day, a NiceCharacterMeanActor kids' show host, his comeuppance.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987'' episode "Donatello Trashes Slash", Vern does a report on a new turtle exhibit at the aquarium. After he's finished, he goes to a rant on how he thinks it's a waste of taxpayers' money on "dirty, smelly reptiles". Unfortunately, the cameraman informs him they're still rolling. Needless to say, Donatello, who saw the report, isn't pleased.

* The ''Manga/Bleach'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2804768/1/PA-System-Blues PA System Blues]]'' first two chapters run on this due to unintentionally turning the PA system back on.

[[folder:Real Life]]
This happens so often in politics across the world, politicians are often told to heed the mantra "Every microphone is live". It's since been expanded to include "There's always a camera, even when there isn't". Essentially, politicians are advised never to say or do anything in public that might get them in trouble, no matter what. But that hasn't stopped people from screwing up...
* UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush
** Bush's much-mocked "get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this shit" aside to Tony Blair concerning the Middle East. The [[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article688879.ece full transcript]] is enlightening, and ends with a literal "Is this thing on?"
** Then there was the time when Bush had a press conference with some US troops in Iraq, a PR event advertised as the President's chance to have a "frank, spontaneous conversation" with the soldiers. Problem was, a news channel picked up a live feed of the conference room before the event showing a full-blown ''rehearsal'' with every question and cute one-liner laid out in advance.
** [[http://www.snopes.com/politics/bush/bushcuss.asp "There's Adam Clymer, major-league asshole from the New York Times." "Oh yeah, he is, big time."]]
** On the other hand, the famed "Now watch this drive" is ''not'' an example of this trope, as he knew full well the cameras were still on him. A {{Facepalm}} moment for sure, but not this trope.
** There was also the time he gave the middle finger to someone at a speaking engagement, apparently not knowing the cameras were still on.
* UsefulNotes/BarackObama
** Characterized Kanye West as a "Jackass" after antics at MTV Video Music Awards. Many conservatives commented that they ''finally'' found something to agree with him on.
** On a more controversial note, he forgot the live mic in discussion with Dmitry Medvedev, assuring him that he'll have more freedom of movement after his final re-election.
** His "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzgOS8dbF64 anti-fly ninjitsu]]" that got him in trouble AnimalWrongsGroup with PETA...
** At one dinner the mic he was sitting beside was one when he was talking with someone else and caught him calling the congressional Republicans assholes for their latest antics. However, there's a sneaking suspicion that he'd taken a cue from ''Series/TheWestWing'' and knew the mic was on, allowing him the chance to vent and express what everyone knew he was thinking.
* From Website/OverheardInNewYork: [[http://www.overheardinnewyork.com/archives/007282.html This quote]].
* There's a moderately famous recording of a bewildered Brooklyner named Gloria accidentally leaving a long and rambling conversation on Music/TheyMightBeGiants' answering machine, in which she and an anonymous individual debate the [[DoingItForTheArt dubious economics of Dial-A-Song.]] The recording was eventually made into a StupidStatementDanceMix. It was included, apparently unedited and without alteration, on the dual CD compilation which collected their first few albums.
* [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/03/peggy-noonan-mike-murphy_n_123647.html This incident]] from the 2008 Republican National Convention, in which Peggy Noonan and Mike Murphy (commentators one would normally expect to be sympathetic to Republicans) made dismissive comments about the party's prospects and selection of Sarah Palin as its Vice-Presidential candidate.
* During the 2016 Republican primaries, Creator/{{MSNBC}} hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski were roundly criticized by pundits and media ethicists for using their newscast to boost on-air for billionaire front-runner Creator/DonaldTrump. Eventually audio clips were leaked showing Scarborough and Brzezinski engaging in sycophantic banter with Trump, praising his poll performance and "wow moments." This didn't stop Trump from later repeatedly insulting them both on Twitter.
* Brazilian journalist Boris Casoy was caught on television in 2009 mocking two garbagemen who were wishing a happy new year to the viewers, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI-ALaP_8xU during the end of the news broadcast]]. He said "Holy shit, two garbagemen wishing happiness... (sic) (...) two damn garbagemen... one of the most worthless employments" while the microphone was still on. Following that, he was indicted for moral damages and was indemnified by the Court of Justice to pay R$60,000 to the men he attacked. He then apologized for that in another broadcast.
* Jesse Jackson was caught on mic whispering, "I wanna cut his nuts off," referring to Barack Obama. Made further hilarious by the jerking motion he made, as though motioning just how he would perform this castration. (Didn't stop him from [[ManlyTears weeping profusely]] in Grant Park the night Obama was elected.)
* Three employees were fired from a Des Moines sports radio show when their [[ClusterFBomb profanity-riddled]] argument over credentials in a high school sports league was aired behind a commercial break.
* Beloved Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray, after having to call a worse than usual (even for the Cubs) half inning in '89, was heard over nationwide TV uttering the poignant phrase "God damn it" as WGN cut to commercial.
* While attending a course during his time posted to Egypt, then-Lieutenant Charles Hazlitt Upham (later winner of TWO Victoria Crosses) once looked out into a briefing-theatre full of generals and muttered, "My oath -- what a galaxy of bloody talent!"... not realising he was standing next to a live microphone.
* When showing live coverage of a speech given by George W. Bush on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, CNN anchor Kyra Phillips [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o visited the bathroom, leaving her mic on]]. Parts of a personal conversation between Phillips and a colleague -- criticizing her sister-in-law and giving advice on men -- were broadcast live as though it were color commentary. How this was not noticed by a sound engineer before Kyra returned to the studio is unknown.
* Similarly, several years ago during some sort of Hollywood celebrity event Creator/JoePantoliano left his mic on after he thought the interview was over and proceeded to take a long and luxurious leak in the men's room, an act which gives new meaning to his nickname Joey Pants.
* In July 2009 Michael Duvall, a California state assemblyman, was captured on tape describing to a colleague -- in graphic detail -- his ongoing extramarital affairs with two different women, one of whom turned out to be a lobbyist for a company in a sector (energy) that Duvall's legislative committee was in charge of overseeing. The tape in question was eventually aired by a TV station, prompting Duvall's eventual resignation.
* There's an extra on the fourth season [=DVD=]s of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' that has a panel of the stars and writers answering questions. Toward the end, Neil Patrick Harris gets up and goes to the bathroom, but forgets to remove his mic. HilarityEnsues.
* During the eighties and early nineties it was very common for US TV networks to transmit satellite feeds without any form of scrambling or encryption so anyone with a satellite dish and satellite TV tuner could view them. Because of this it was possible for people to watch (and record) satellite interviews as they were being conducted. For live broadcasts, the feed was usually set up far before the interview began and when the network cut to commercial or another segment of the program the satellite feed usually stayed on leading to many real-life instances of this trope. Several of them were collected in a documentary called ''Spin''
* News anchor Sue Simmons, displeased with some off-camera incident, unleashes a hilarious [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETnp8Tq3CFw bit of profanity.]], angrily exclaiming "the '''''[[PrecisionFStrike FUCK]]''''' are you doing?!" She later apologized, but David Letterman still had a tremendous amount of fun at her expense.
* Pat Robertson [[http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1953778_1953776_1953758,00.html had a similar blunder]] when he tried to insult the caller he had just spoken to, thinking his mic was off. It wasn't.
* At the end of an interview, having thought that the broadcast had ceased, Mel Gibson added a little something to the end of his farewell to the interviewer [[http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainment/1008066/mel-gibson-denies-abusing-reporter-on-live-tv he probably didn't intend to go to air]].
* During a group photo with his sons, Prince Charles muttered "I can't bear that man. He's so awful, he really is," referring to then BBC Royal correspondent Nicholas Witchell. A boom microphone set up for the pool TV coverage easily picked up the comments which were widely broadcast.
* Famous British football manager turned commentator Ron Atkinson said, referring to black French player Marcel Desailly: "He is what is known in some schools as a fucking lazy thick nigger." Although transmission in the UK had finished, his comment was broadcast to various countries in the Middle East. He had to resign from his job.
* In a similar British football incident, commentators Andy Grey and Richard Keys were sacked after they were heard on broadcast making sexist remarks about a female referee and questioning women's ability to fill the role, although separate allegations of off-air sexual harassment of colleagues also contributed.
* When Hashim Amla, a South African cricketer of Pakistani Muslim descent, dismissed an opposition player in a test match against Sri Lanka, commentator Dean Jones quipped that "the terrorist just got another wicket", believing the microphone to be off. Jones was fired the next day.
* Former Vice President UsefulNotes/JoeBiden on health care reform, shaking [[UsefulNotes/BarackObama Obama]]'s hand shortly before he announced the passage to the nation: "This is a big [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] deal!" Naturally, this was picked up by the microphone that Obama was set to make the announcement on. Truth be told, though, this made Biden even ''more'' popular, so it can't even be seen as a gaffe, and Biden would later lean into it during his own presidential campaign, though he toned down the language to "big freaking deal".
* Bill [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tJjNVVwRCY "Fuckin' thing SUCKS!"]] O'Reilly, as mentioned under ''Series/TheColbertReport'' above.
* Creator/CaseyKasem wants to know why he's coming out of a [[https://www.youtube.com//watch?v=fDYK2H0ldbo fucking uptempo record into a death dedication.]] (His irascibility was probably exacerbated by the fact that it was for a dog; Kasem was a notoriously kindhearted animal lover.) Kasem knew the mic was on, he just didn't expect the outtakes to ever be heard outside of the recording studio.[[note]]Indeed he did not. In [[http://www.negativland.com/archives/009interviews/for-the-record.html an interview with For The Record]], Negativland's Mark Hosler revealed he'd spoken with Creator/DrDemento -- who had worked in Casey's Los Angeles studio, and ''that was the way Casey acted all the time!''.[[/note]]
** Worse than that, they were sent out on ''raw feed'' and picked up by engineers all over the country. Not to mention experimental sound collage group Music/{{Negativland}} which [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6gPSSYxex0 combined it with a parody version]] of Music/{{U2}}'s "Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" plus sound clips of ham radio operators swearing at each other, to create a StupidStatementDanceMix. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negativland#U2_record_incident And this is where the story _really_ starts.]]
* During his tenure on Creator/{{CBS}}' Early Show, Bryant Gumbel was interviewing [[MediaWatchdog Media Research Center]] president [[CulturePolice Brent Bozell]] in 2000 when Gumbel turned around and [[http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/jun/07060604.html dropped an F-bomb]] on Bozell (keep in mind, this is fairly early in the morning). Also keep in mind that he was being forced to talk to a man arguing that gay people should be forbidden to become scoutmasters in Boy Scouts.
* Creator/{{CNN}}, covering the 2004 Democratic National Convention, cut to a live feed from producer Don Mischer's microphone, just in time to catch him upbraiding his staff for a mediocre balloon drop. ClusterFBomb [[http://youtu.be/9FTtIbkTWTY?t=1m46s with confetti!]]
* While being driven to his next appointment after a conversation with a local voter about immigration, UK Prime Minister UsefulNotes/GordonBrown infamously called her [[https://youtu.be/TbhPWAMx2y0 "a bigoted woman"]]. After the audio made the news, he took a trip to her house to personally apologize. In between, he also failed to realise there was a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3F_ly9xSqQ camera filming him in the radio studio]] where the news was broken to him on air.
* In 2009, Polish sci-fi writer and journalist Rafał Ziemkiewicz said "Grandpa, get the fuck off the air, have some respect and cut that bullshit!" about the National Electoral Commission official during a TV panel. The mic was, of course, live.
* Back when Creator/OliviaMunn was part of ''Series/AttackOfTheShow'', she did interviews around E3 2010. On one night, she did an informal E3 stream with co-host Kevin in their hotel room. During the stream, Kevin made comments about Olivia's sex life; not amused, she decided to cut to commercial break and reveals her BitchInSheepsClothing persona to Kevin. Fast forward about four minutes later and she's about to turn the stream back on, but there's a problem...she never turned it off. She left ''Attack of the Show!'' later that year, although that was almost certainly unrelated to that incident since she went on to ''Series/TheDailyShowWithJonStewart''.
* Similarly to the Gordon Brown incident, during the 1989 election campaign, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke referred to a pensioner who had just harangued him during a meet-and-greet as a "silly old bugger". The muttered comment was recorded by a television crew accompanying the PM and quickly became front page news across the country.
* From ''Reader's Digest'': an air traffic controller aboard a US Navy aircraft carrier didn't realize his mic was still on after talking to a pilot, saying "That guy [[ElmuhFuddSyndwome sounds just like Elmer Fudd.]]" After a long, awkward silence [[SelfDeprecatingHumor the pilot radioed back]]: "Be vewy vewy quiet. We're hunting submawines."
* Also from ''Reader's Digest'': A woman hosting a dinner party was dismayed to see that her brother had brought his girlfriend, whom she didn't like. She and her husband left their guests enjoying drinks and hors d'oeuvres in the living room while they went upstairs under the pretense of checking on their baby. Once in the nursery, she spent several minutes venting about how much she hated the other woman. Satisfied, she and her husband went back downstairs, only to find the guests sitting in uncomfortable silence--having just heard every word that she had said over the baby monitor that was present on the coffee table.
* After being given some sarcastic riffing by Simon [=McCoy=], BBC News weatherman Tomasz Schafernaker [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svt6MTmTAKQ gave him the finger]], then realised half a second too late that he was live on air. His smug grin abruptly turning into a [[WildTake goggle-eyed]] OhCrap face while he vainly attempts to pretend he was scratching his chin is priceless.
* During the September 11th, 2001 attacks, broadcasters had far bigger things to concentrate on than FCC regulations, so most news broadcasts gave viewers an almost uninterrupted 8-hour stream of {{Cluster F Bomb}}s and pointed {{Precision F Strike}}s from frightened civilians running by the cameras and witnesses who took video[[note]]Mostly on camcorders, either VHS or digital. Some digital cameras also had the ability to take video as well as still shots. In those days, the only cellphone with a camera was the Kyocera Visual.[[/note]] on their balconies and rushed it to local TV. This included lines such as, "This is all fucking crazy! This is the fucking end!"
** Dan Rather did apologize about the language used by some of the witnesses in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8FM05a8cWs a couple of brief films]] now known to have been made by Australian artist [[Film/AFantasticFearOfEverything Chris Hopewell]] from his rooms in Brooklyn which had [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMdICEvQyNI a particularly good view of the scene]]. Dan then reracked the tape so you could see (and hear) it again.[[note]]In New York for a project related to his poster art, [[https://www.facebook.com/abcnews.au/videos/chris-hopewell-reflects-on-filming-911/10157270612369988/ Hopewell says]] he didn't even know the first plane ''was'' a plane; he had the curtains closed and just heard the noise. Then, he thought firefighters would be able to put it out. He is still trying to process what he saw.[[/note]]
* In 2009, Chilean senator Fernando Flores is about to finish an interview for the CNN Chile channel. His host makes some questions that he dislikes, then finishes the interview. Just before the transmision was about to finish, a pissed-off Flores rants about how the guy's questions were [[PrecisionFStrike "fucking dumb"]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kqqD3b4ap78 among other things.]] That part was caught on-tape and then uploaded to Youtube... Flores did have a history of exploding at his interviewers, however, having simply stormed out of the set when he got upset at a reply before.
* This happened to Apollo astronauts a couple times.
** During the Apollo 16 lunar mission, while the astronauts were resting after a moonwalk, John Young told his colleague Charlie Duke how the potassium-laced orange juice they were given to drink was [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuv6TVv0r44 giving him gas]], and how he intended never to eat another [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] orange again after the flight was over. Eventually Mission Control warned him that he had a "hot mic". It seems that his mic key was stuck in the "on" position -- quite possibly by some dried orange drink that had been spilled earlier. The very same orange drink he'd been complaining about.
** Shortly after the astronauts aboard Apollo 13 moved to the lunar module, the mic setting was switched to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice-operated_switch VOX]] (voice-operated transmission) by accident. The Capcom first tried to hint that the mic was hot by responding to the astronauts' private conversation; despite the hint, [[FailedASpotCheck the astronauts still failed to see that the mic setting was not on "Normal Voice".]] It eventually had to be pointed out directly by the Capcom, similar to [[Film/{{Apollo 13}} the movie]]. Even worse, later in the mission, Lovell commented privately (he thought) that it would likely be the last mission for a long time; again, the mic was on a VOX setting.
** Apollo 10:
--->'''Tom Stafford:''' Man, that [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-lunar_injection TLI]] was quite a ride. Never forget that son of a bitch. We still recording?\\
'''Gene Cernan:''' Yes.
* At a city council meeting in 2010, UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}} mayor Gregor Robertson landed himself in hot water when he was recorded [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IDcmUQa0WM insulting his constituents as "hacks" of a rival local political party]] because they opposed his rental housing development plan. Annoyingly, the media (and inevitable backlash against the reports) focused on a [[WindmillPolitical supposed outrage over his use of profanity]] rather than the fact that he was [[UnfortunateImplications belittling anyone who disagreed with him]] as a "hack" of a local political party.
* UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan once, as a part of a sound test, announced [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgSSRE27GQ0 "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."]] However, the joke was leaked (sometimes erroneously reported as having been broadcast immediately), and the Soviet Union got a brief freak-out.
* A certain air traffic controller was found to be a little distracted at work when his mic accidentally got switched on and he played his movie to all the passing planes...
* A Southwest Airline pilot ranted to his co-pilot about the lack of SexyStewardess on his flights, and having to work with only gays, grannies, and overweight folks. Unknowingly, he had turned on the mic, broadcasting to everyone in Texas airspace, but didn't even stop when an air traffic controller tried to butt in.
* In October 2011, this happened to two world leaders for the price of one. At a G20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a liar; POTUS Barack Obama responded with "You're fed up with him, but I have to deal with him every day!"
* Another rather innocent thing. A local news station had an anchor who was feeling sick to his stomach, but [[TheDeterminator was going to do the broadcast either way since it was live and he had a devotion to his job]]. Eventually he started to feel sick during the broadcast and asked them to cut. The cameramen saw that he was getting pretty pale and sweaty, so they killed the video feed...unfortunately the audio was still being recorded, so viewers could hear the news anchor shout, "GET A BUCKET! QUI-" and then the sound of him throwing up on the floor, and it was broadcast live. [[NeverLiveItDown Twenty years after the incident, they still played that clip]].
* During the 1994 Olympics, skater Nancy Kerrigan was waiting backstage for gold medalist Oksana Baiul for the medal ceremony to take place. After having skated the best performance of her life, not to mention having come back from a disastrous year and a vicious attack, Nancy was already irritated at having lost by an uber-slim margin (a mere tenth of a point gave Baiul the gold medal over her). Further annoyed both by the delay and then upon being told that the delay was because Baiul was putting on more makeup (wrongly, as it turns out, the delay was because the Ukrainian flag and a tape of the Ukrainian Anthem could not be found[[note]]Not that surprising considering the fact that this was the first Olympics where Ukraine fielded its own independent team of athletes (although Ukrainian independence had been proclaimed in 1991, at the 1992 Olympics Ukraine together with all the other post-Soviet states - except for the Baltic ones - competed as a part of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Team_at_the_Olympics unified team]]) and the very first Olympic gold medal for independent Ukrainian team[[/note]]), Kerrigan promptly snapped, "Oh, come on! So she's just going to cry again. What's the difference?". What Kerrigan didn't realize was that there was an open mic nearby and her snippety remark was just broadcasted to countless people. It was the first of a handful of missteps Kerrigan made that briefly tarnished her "America's Sweetheart" reputation that had been bestowed following her attack.
** Nancy Kerrigan also got caught making the comment, "This is so corny. This is so dumb. I hate it. This is the most corny thing I've ever done", while sitting beside Mickey Mouse during a Disney parade.
** When she later hosted ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'', during her monologue, she said that what she really said was "the most ''horny'' thing I've every done."
* The classic scene with then British prime minister John Major, where immediately after a BBC radio interview and thinking the mic was turned off, he described some of his less loyal Cabinet Ministers as a "bunch of bastards". The recording heard all.
* Flamboyant disc jockey and comedian Kenny Everett attended a rally of showbiz stars who support the Conservative party. Thinking it would be edited out later, in front of thousands of Tory Party faithful and a lot of cameras and press, he opened his address with "Let's bomb Russia!" The worrying thing, and the point the press picked on, was the size and duration of the cheer Everett got.
* In 2010, radio host Don Imus was heard mocking [=Kars4Kids=] on-air when their ad came on during a commercial break (the group is well-known for having a ''[[Horrible/{{Advertising}} very]]'' annoying jingle), telling them to go to hell, and that he'd donate his [[CoolCar Bentley]] to them.
* Recently, the thoughts of Uruguayan President José Mujica about Agentinian President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her late husband Néstor Kirchner were caught on video. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-YGTHUVQso And they weren't pretty.]]
* The following football season after the "wardrobe malfunction" at the Super Bowl, CBS aired a Jacksonville-Cleveland game that New Year's Eve. After a commercial break, the camera was trained on a guy in the crowd who was a dead ringer for Santa Claus and who wore a shirt that clearly read on-screen "Your ass ain't gettin' shit for Christmas!"
* A Southwest pilot managed to [[http://consumerist.com/2013/11/14/southwest-pilot-learns-he-should-stick-to-words-like-descending-and-not-were-going-down/ broadcast "we’re going down"]] to the whole plane. In reality, the plane was in no danger; rather, the pilot, either not versed in or with a relaxed attitude to protocol, meant to say "we're descending" to air traffic control, but went with a more informal, yet equally disquieting phrase instead, accidentally broadcasting it over the plane's PA.
* A translator at the UN wondered out loud why the General Assembly passes so many resolutions on Israel and the Palestinians every year while ignoring many other conflicts around the world, [[http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/24252/Default.aspx not realizing her words were being broadcast to the delegates]]. This incident delighted Israelis, who have been complaining about their treatment at the UN for decades.
* Canadian journalist [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Haines Avery Haines]] (sister of Emily Haines of Music/{{Metric}}) fell victim to this while working at CTV Newsnet. While taping the introduction to a news report, she flubbed a line, then made a lighthearted joke about it:
-->I kind of like the little stuttering thing. It's like equal opportunity, right? We've got a stuttering newscaster. We've got the black, we've got the Asian, we've got the woman. I could be a lesbian, folk-dancing, black woman stutterer. What's that? In a wheelchair ... with a gimping, rubber legs. Yeah, really. I'd have a successful career, let me tell you.
** The introduction was rerecorded, but unfortunately a technician inadvertently used the flubbed tape with Haines' joke. Haines was fired; the technician was merely suspended.
* In January 2014, after President Obama's State of the Union address, a TV reporter tried to ask NY congressman Michael Grimm about allegations regarding his campaign financing, but Grimm walked off, refusing to answer. Moments later, Grimm walked back, saying to the reporter "Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again, I'll throw you off this [[PrecisionFStrike fucking]] balcony." [[LaserGuidedKarma In April, Grimm was arrested for numerous charges of corruption, which included campaign financing]].
* During a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the St. Louis Rams, Rams Offensive Guard Harvey Dahl was called for holding. As the referee was declaring the penalty to the crowd, his microphone picked up Dahl shouting at the ref, "That's not fucking holding!", broadcasting the words throughout the stadium. The ref subsequently gave Dahl another penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
** Hilariously happened again during a playoff game in 2021 when a ref's mic picked up wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson yelling "What the FUCK!?!" after he was called for a penalty. The best part? The game was being simulcast on ''Nickelodeon'', complete with F-bomb. Patterson was not given an additional unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
* At the 1955 [[FanConvention Worldcon]], guest of honor Creator/IsaacAsimov was sitting at the dais as the [[UsefulNotes/HugoAward Hugos]] were being handed out. One of the winning authors was unable to attend, and editor Judith Merril accepted for him. The presenter announced this by saying, "In his absence, the award will be accepted by Judy Merril, by whom he has been so often anthologized." Asimov turned to the person next to him and said, "Anthologized? [[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow Always euphemisms]]." The microphone in front of him was live, and the hall erupted in laughter at Merril's expense. Asimov was horrified, and for the rest of the weekend (while the other attendees were saying "Anthologize you!" and "Go anthologize yourself!" to each other), he was afraid that Merril would kill him the next time their paths crossed. To her credit, she forgave him.
%%* http://notalwaysworking.com/outspoken-speaker/33984
* [[https://uk.movies.yahoo.com/ian-mckellen-broke-down-over--hobbit--green-screen-scenes.html During filming of]] Creator/PeterJackson's ''Film/TheHobbit'', Creator/IanMcKellen broke down crying upon seeing a scene with him and the dwarves would be done by green screen, with only pictures of the dwarves to indicate who's talking. He said to himself, "This is not why I became an actor" ...only for his mic to be on and the whole studio hearing it. Fortunately, Peter Jackson and the rest of the crew made up for it later, putting quite a bit of effort into making a personal "relaxation" space for Sir [=McKellen=] on the set to cheer him up. It worked.
* During the filming of ''Film/TheJinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst'', a documentary filmed in 2013 about the investigations surrounding the long-time suspected murderer millionaire, Durst left to use the restroom after an interview with one a reporter, forgetting that his mic was on. The sound editor was then treated to the sound of Durst relieving himself... followed by his muttering of "What the hell did I do? Killed them all, of course." Durst was arrested in 2015, following the release of the documentary.
* A. J. Clemente holds the dubious distinction of having possibly the shortest career in the history of newsreading, thanks to the first words out of his mouth on his first day on the job being a frustrated [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sV4XjuWc2nk Gay... fucking shit]][[note]]For context, he was trying and failing to pronounce the name of Ethiopian athlete Tsegaye Kebede[[/note]] as the studio feed went live. He and his co-anchor completed one very awkward news session, and he was fired at the end of it.
* In 2012 the British radio station Jazz FM [[http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/ofcom-finds-jazz-fm-in-breach-of-broadcasting-code-over-porno-noises/048675 accidentally broadcast]] five minutes of graphic sounds of gay sex. It was later revealed that an unnamed station employee (reportedly later sacked) had been watching a porn video on the studio computer, without realising that the computer's audio output was also going to the broadcast feed.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZNbWxzW0Zc This]] Mexican news anchor insults a pair of fellow news anchormen on air not too long after the commercial break ended. [[OhCrap His reaction]] is priceless, and then the video went viral and spawned a few memes.
-->'''Marcos Martínez Soriano:''' López Dóriga ain't shit. Loret de Mola is a dumbass. I mean it, no one watches them! No one watches those two- ...[-Are we on the air already?-]
* Modern audio mics used at sporting events such as hockey and (American/Canadian) football are sensitive enough to pick up the sounds of the action to enhance the broadcast, and usually the people in the truck are quick enough to switch the audio feed so that the action is all that's heard, but it's not uncommon to hear a player swear just after a particularly heavy bodycheck or tackle, complaining about a call, or expressing excitement. And with many refs now equipped with wireless mics to explain calls, they will also sometimes pick up a player in the background expressing their discontent with it. Most sportscasts simply ignore it happened.
** A couple of referees have also made the mistake of forgetting to turn off their stadium microphones or accidentally keying up the stadium microphone rather than the internal system officials use to communicate with each other. Some of these comments have been benign and are just notable for their unexpectedness or for giving fans an unusual glimpse behind the scenes (such as when Ed Hochuli referred to a colleague by the nickname "Jungle Boy"), but other officials have been unfortunate enough to be caught swearing.
* Speaking of American football, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselback probably didn't intend for his BadassBoast in a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RFOwmNDfPY 2003 playoff game]] against the Green Bay Packers to be heard by ''every single person watching the game''[[note]]Hasselback, who had been on the Packers roster for several years before joining the Seahawks, would later indicate he was just poking fun at his ex-teammates[[/note]]. Unfortunately, it was picked up by the referee's stadium mic -- and even more unfortunately, [[TemptingFate it didn't exactly work out as he'd hoped]].
* In early 2022, Peyton Manning had a moment of this on his and his brother's "Manningcast" program during a Wild Card playoff game. Manning was having technical difficulties and apparently failed to realize that while his ''audio'' wasn't working, his ''microphone'' was functioning perfectly.
-->'''Eli:''' Let’s go to Peyton, he’s going to break down that touchdown.\\
'''Peyton:''' I can't hear shit.\\
'''Eli:''' ...Never mind.
* UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump's 2016 presidential campaign was subject to countless controversies that probably would've ended any other politician's career. On October 7th, 2016, blooper footage was leaked to NBC and ''The Washington Post'' from a 2005 interview between Trump and Billy Bush, then anchor for ''Access Hollywood'', in which Trump seemingly boasted joked that if you were a powerful Hollywood player you could "grab [women] by the pussy" and they'd let you. This was clamied to be poof that he sexually assaulted women despite being clearly a joke and that he didn't claim he'd actually done it, just that he could have. Of course in retrospect it was literally true that many powerful figures in the entertainment industry could do that and indeed had. Trump talked at length about trying to sleep with Nancy O'Dell, Bush's ''Access Hollywood'' co-anchor, with Bush joking and playing along. [[RoleEndingMisdemeanor NBC initially tried to shield Bush from scrutiny, but public outcry forced the network to suspend and eventually fire him]] from ''Today''. The outcry probably helped Bush as unlike some of his other remarks it was a joke, and people saw that.
* A memoir written by an RAF Blenheim pilot during [=WW2=] relates how they paid particular attention to the position of a certain switch during their pre-flight check after a lewd discussion by the crew of a Blenheim regarding a newly-arrived WAAF was relayed live to the woman in question, who eventually ran screaming out of the radio room. The CO was not amused.
* This destroyed the career of former Virginia Senator George Allen. In 2006, Allen was a former Congressman and Governor who was running for a second term against former Secretary of the Navy Jim Webb, with Allen also having been viewed as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination for President in 2008. Allen held a solid lead until August 11, 2006; on that day, Allen was caught on video using the ethnic slur "macaca" (a slur against Indian people) in the presence of a Webb staffer of Indian heritage. The controversy magnified by changing explanations from the Allen campaign, and separate controversies over Allen's comments attempting to deny and eventually downplay the Jewish ethnic heritage of his mother Henrietta. Similar uses of racial epithets during Allen's college years also began to crop up around this time. This led to Allen losing by just under 10,000 votes, with that race being the last to be called and which ended up swinging control of the Senate to the Democrats.
* In a more benign example, on occasion you can hear behind-the-scenes banter between crew members over a slate. One such example is the August 31, 1987 edition of ''[=The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour=]''.
* [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Alt-right leader Richard Spencer]] had a tape leaked where he goes on an [[VillainousBreakdown unhinged rant]] about how "kikes" and "octoroons" [[note]] an obsolete term for one-eighth black people [[/note]] are responsible for all his problems and how his ancestors would have "enslaved those pieces of shit."
* With the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic making their normal in-person sessions too dangerous, many courts around the world have turned to telephone or video-conference to hold hearings. A hearing in the United States Supreme Court on a challenge to a provision of the Consumer Telephone Protection Act was interrupted by [[https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/06/politics/toilet-flush-supreme-court-oral-arguments/index.html the sound of a toilet flushing]]. Nobody is quite sure who that was.
* During a broadcast of a Cincinnati Reds doubleheader against the Kansas City Royals, Reds (and NFL on FOX) announcer Thom Brennaman was heard describing an unidentified location as "one of the fag capitals of the world," just before coming back from commercial break. [[note]] The comment was heard on the MLB.TV internet feed of the game, but not to viewers watching on cable or satellite. Essentially, MLB broadcasts raw production truck feeds of games to subscribers of it's out-of-market MLB.TV package. Because all commercials are cued by the network airing the game and not the broadcast truck, MLB puts up a slate muting the broadcast in an attempt to prevent this sort of thing from happening. In this case, however, the slate was taken down too early. Therefore, viewers in-market watching on cable or satellite did not hear the slur, but those out-of-market watching the internet stream did. [[/note]] Brennaman finished game 1 and called most of game 2 before addressing the controversy on air in the 5th inning. After this, he left the broadcast and apologized, but the Reds and FOX Sports[[note]] the national FOX Sports that Brennaman called NFL games for, ''not'' FOX Sports Ohio, the regional network that broadcasted Reds games and by this point in time wasn't even owned by FOX.[[/note]] later revealed that he would be suspended for the rest of the 2020 season's baseball and football broadcasts. He eventually officially resigned as a broadcaster for the Reds a month later. He was replaced by Kevin Kugler on his NFL assignments for FOX and by John Sadak as announcer for the Reds.
* During a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, also conducted by video chat, asking questions of Postmaster General Louis [=DeJoy=], Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) was having a bit of trouble with his microphone, then accidentally sent the rest of the committee [[https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/21/politics/postmaster-general-senate-hearing-takeaways/index.html a triple F-bomb]].
* Averted, more or less, by Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer, when making a joke while waiting to deliver a speech at the DNC. Fully aware that she had a hot mic under her nose, [[https://twitter.com/therecount/status/1295542788046630913 she deliberately censored her own words]]: "It's Shark Week, [[MouthingTheProfanity m***r]]." (She later clarified [[https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/clarissajanlim/gretchen-whitmer-shark-week-motherfucker what this meant]].)
* Legendary television newsman David Brinkley ran into this late in his career. Brinkley was co-anchoring ElectionNight coverage for Creator/{{ABC}} alongside Creator/PeterJennings in 1996; the last Election Night he would work prior to his retirement, and near the end of ABC's coverage Brinkley - thinking ABC had gone to commercial - described newly re-elected UsefulNotes/BillClinton as "a bore" and added "The next four years will be filled with pretty words and pretty music and a lot of [[PrecisionFStrike goddamn]] nonsense!". When colleague Sam Donaldson pointed out that they were still on the air; Brinkley responded with "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NiOaH0qJr4 Really? Well, I'm leaving anyway!]]". Brinkley would apologize on the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53tLD6c_Ikc following week's edition]] of his political discussion show ''This Week'' (incidentally, the last one before his planned retirement) in a one-on-one interview with President Clinton.
* In 2019, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot was caught on-mic referring to a police official as "this FOP [[note]] Fraternal Order of Police[[/note]] clown". Relations between Lightfoot and the police were already strained in the wake of the [=LaQuan=] [=McDonald=] shooting (where an officer shot an unarmed black man multiple times); the comment further exacerbated those tensions.
* Creator/MarkRuffalo accidentally bootlegged the first 20 minutes of ''Film/ThorRagnarok'' by forgetting to turn off a livestream before attending an early showing.
* During a US Senate hearing on January 11, 2022, Roger Marshall (R-KS) got into a spat with Dr. Anthony Fauci, accusing Fauci of conflicts of interest and claiming that "Big Tech" had made Fauci's financial disclosure statements impossible to find.[[note]]Fauci's financial disclosure forms, dating back over thirty years, can be requested with an online form.[[/note]] After Marshall finally stopped, the mic picked up Fauci muttering "What a moron. Jesus Christ!"
* While preparing to announce a girls' basketball game in January 2022, two Maine radio announcers were caught on live mic [[https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-maine-radio-announcers-fired-mocking-weight-high-school-athletes-rcna12541 calling two players "extremely overweight"]] and making other derogatory comments. By the end of the game, both of them had been fired.
* Former Kansas Senator, 1976 Republican Vice-Presidential and 1996 Presidential nominee and Senate Majority Leader UsefulNotes/BobDole became an example during his second run for President in 1988; where he was hoping to succeed incumbent UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan since Reagan was unable to run for a third term. Dole had won the Iowa Caucus in early February with his chief rival, Vice-President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, finishing in 3rd place behind not only Dole but longtime ''700 Club'' host Pat Robertson and looked to be ahead in the polling for the New Hampshire primary the following week, only for the Bush campaign to go on the attack, most famously with the "straddle" ad accusing Dole of straddling the fence on whether he would raise taxes or not. After Bush won the primary, he was being interviewed by [[Creator/{{NBC}} NBC Nightly News]] anchor Creator/TomBrokaw and closed with wishing his rivals for the Republican nomination good luck on the next major contest; the mostly-Southern Super Tuesday primaries. Dole, waiting to be interviewed by Brokaw and unaware he was on the air, answered with a blunt [[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/17/us/bush-vs-dole-behind-the-turnaround.html "Stop lying about my record"]]. Dole's campaign never recovered, with him only winning a few Midwestern contests before Bush pulled away after Super Tuesday, resulting in Dole dropping out after losing the Illinois primary while Bush would go on to win the nomination and general election.
[[/folder]]

* Similarly, during the 1989 election campaign, Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke referred to a pensioner who had just harangued him during a meet-and-greet as a "silly old bugger". The muttered comment was recorded by a television crew accompanying the PM and quickly became front page news across the country.

* Parodied in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' Season 9's trailer, where Pelican pilot 479'er insults the air traffic controllers, leading to this exchange:

* Former Kansas Senator, 1976 Republican Vice-Presidential and 1996 Presidential nominee and Senate Majority Leader UsefulNotes/BobDole became an example during his second run for President in 1988; where he was hoping to succeed incumbent UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan since Reagan was unable to run for a third term. Dole had won the Iowa Caucus in early February with his chief rival, Vice-President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush, finishing in 3rd place behind not only Dole but longtime [[Series/The700Club 700 Club host]] Pat Robertson and looked to be ahead in the polling for the New Hampshire primary the following week, only for the Bush campaign to go on the attack, most famously with the "straddle" ad accusing Dole of straddling the fence on whether he would raise taxes or not. After Bush won the primary, he was being interviewed by [[Creator/{{NBC}} NBC Nightly News]] anchor Creator/TomBrokaw and closed with wishing his rivals for the Republican nomination good luck on the next major contest; the mostly-Southern Super Tuesday primaries. Dole, waiting to be interviewed by Brokaw and unaware he was on the air, answered with a blunt [[https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/17/us/bush-vs-dole-behind-the-turnaround.html "Stop lying about my record"]]. Dole's campaign never recovered, with him only winning a few Midwestern contests before Bush pulled away after Super Tuesday, resulting in Dole dropping out after losing the Illinois primary while Bush would go on to win the nomination and general election.

Time to go find that page... Wait. [[SelfDemonstratingArticle Is this still on?]]

** His "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzgOS8dbF64 anti-fly ninjitsu]]" that got him in trouble [[AnimalWrongsGroup with PETA]]...

* LetsPlay/TheKingOfHate's now-infamous 2016 livestream incident where he [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbated]] while the camera was live. He gave an introduction, realised his mistake, and then after an awkward pause [[TheShowMustGoOn continued the stream as if nothing had happened]].