History Main / EmbarrassingAlibi

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': Lampshaded in "[[Recap/TheVentureBrosS7E7TheUnicornInCaptivity The Unicorn in Captivity]]". 21 needs to deliver The Monarch's flying wings to him without being seen, so he does by disguising them in a box for adult diapers. When the Monarch calls him out on it., he explains the more embarrassing the alibi, the less likely it is that people will question it.

** In "[[Recap/BonesS6E3TheMaggotsInTheMeathead The Maggots In The Meathead]]", one suspect turns out to have been in New York at the time, seeing [[Film/BillyElliot Billy Elliot the Musical]] with his mother.

* ''Series/{{Bones}}:
** In "The Maggots In The Meathead", one suspect turns out to have been in New York at the time, seeing [[Film/BillyElliot Billy Elliot The Musical]] with his mother.

Supertrope of ConfessToALesserCrime. Subtrope of BigSecret and TheAlibi. Compare to EmbarrassingCoverup. Often used to justify BeAsUnhelpfulAsPossible.

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul'': In "[[Recap/BetterCallSaulS2E2Cobbler Cobbler]]", Daniel, after reporting a theft to the police, ends up under suspicion because of a secret crawlspace behind his couch, which he used to hide his money from drug deals. Jimmy clears this up by telling the police that the space actually contained adult videos of "Squat Cobbler," consisting of Daniel sitting in pies and crying. This successfully throws the police off, but does require Jimmy to actually go home with Daniel and make such a video.

->''"Let me, let me get this straight. You-your alibi for killing your friend is you were... doing his, his wife?"''
-->-- '''Richard Castle''', ''Series/{{Castle}}'', "A Deadly Game"

* ''ComicBook/TheRedTen'': Two examples. In issue #4, Crimson, Red's former KidSidekick, asks Red's teammates about their alibis for the night she was murdered:
** Bellona, the WonderWomanWannabe, simply states there was entertainment that night and "leave it at that". The accompanying image is her half-naked among other women of her LadyLand home.
** Magnitude, the scientist of the group, confirms he was at his lab at the time, which his keycard can confirm. He was studying something on his microscope, muttering to himself how it was "beautiful". [[spoiler:As it will be revealed later, he was actually examining microscope slides of his ''victims'', which he shrank down and smashed between the glass panels.]]

* ''Series/BetterCallSaul:'' In the episode "Cobbler" Daniel, after reporting a theft to the police, ends up under suspicion because of a secret crawlspace behind his couch, which he used to hide his money from drug deals. Jimmy clears this up by telling the police that the space actually contained adult videos of "Squat Cobbler," consisting of Daniel sitting in pies and crying. This successfully throws the police off, but does require Jimmy to actually go home with Daniel and make such a video.
* ''Series/{{Castle}}'':
** [[Recap/CastleS2E24ADeadlyGame "A Deadly Game"]]: A man is brought in after his business partner is found murdered, the insurance on their floundering business a prime motivator for murder. He explains that he couldn't have murdered his partner, because he was in another city having an affair with the murdered man's wife. Ryan and Esposito confirm after interviewing the neighbors, who reported that it was a hot night, the windows were open, and [[TheImmodestOrgasm they'd heard everything]].
** [[Recap/CastleS3E20SliceOfDeath "Slice of Death"]]: Castle and Beckett are interviewing a suspect who ran a pizza chain competing with one where a body was found in the oven. He told the police initially that he was with his wife, but his wife later said that he was with his mistress. He admits to cheating on his wife to prove his innocence in the murder.
** Subverted in [[Recap/CastleS2E5WhenTheBoughBreaks "When the Bough Breaks"]]. Eliska Sokal is found murdered, and one of the suspects is Dr. Cameron Talbot, who was seen arguing with the woman. She had worked at his apartment complex, and she had been let go after Talbot's wife complained to the staff that Eliska had shown an unhealthy interest in her son Zane. Dr. Talbot claimed that he had had an affair with Eliska that the argument was about him trying to offer her money to keep it silent, and that at the time of the murder, he'd been in his office. The truth is far more terrible; [[spoiler:Talbot had stolen Eliska's newborn son when his own was diagnosed with an incurable genetic disorder, swapping the two children. Eliska had figured it out and was trying to prove that Zane Talbot was, in fact, her own child. There had been no affair. Talbot had lied about that to make it seem like he had an embarrassing secret to keep from his wife that might keep the police from looking in the right direction.]]
** [[Recap/CastleS5E6TheFinalFrontier "The Final Frontier"]], when a woman running a fan experience for ''[[ShowWithinAShow Nebula 9]]'' is found murdered, one of the suspects is Gabriel Winter, the actor who played the Captain on the original show and reprised the role for the fan experience. His supposed motive was that the woman running the fan experience, Annabelle, was threatening to fire him after he was caught having a threesome with ''two'' Lt. Chloe cosplayers. His alibi, however, is that he was being treated by a doctor for an STD from incidents just like that.

* ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'': A two-part crossover with ''Series/LawAndOrder''. In the ''Law and Order'' episode [[Recap/LawAndOrderS8E6BabyItsYou "Baby, It's You"]], a young model dies after being sexually assaulted with such severity that she suffered internal injuries that resulted in toxic shock and infection that killed her. Every male who had access to the girl during the time of the assault has an alibi. In the ''Homicide'' episode [[Recap/HomicideLifeOnTheStreetS6E5BabyItsYou that shares the same name]], it turns out that this includes the girl's father, who was elsewhere having an affair that had carried on for a decade. [[spoiler:The killer ends up being the girl's mother, who was resentful and jealous of her daughter's success]].

** In [[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS9E13Unorthodox "Unorthodox"]], the initial suspect in the rape of a young Orthodox boy is his tutor, because he keeps evading questions about why he keeps having "private lessons" with the boy. It later turns out that the private lessons are a cover; he's been seeing a young woman without her parents' approval and feared the scandal that would ensue if it ever got out.
** In another episode, [[Recap/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnitS2E15Countdown "Countdown"]], a murder suspect turns out to have been in Connecticut at the time, trying to grope children at a county fair.
* ''Series/MurderSheWrote'': In the episode "Trial By Error", [[spoiler:a man wanted to kill his wife and get her money so he could live with his girlfriend. He tried to kill the wife in a car accident, but she survived. To keep her from talking about what happened, he and his girlfriend arranged it so that it would look like he went to a bar to drown his sorrows, met the girlfriend, and then they went to her place. Once the alibi was set up, he actually snuck back into the hospital and pulled the plug on his wife's life support. It might have worked had the girlfriend's estranged husband (having heard that the girlfriend had taken home another man) arrived in a violent rage, necessitating that she kill him with a fire poker, meaning that her boyfriend was arrested for murder, just not the one he committed.]] Jessica [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this trope when she points out that a man who admits to having an affair on the night of his wife's death likely won't be accused of her murder.
* ''Series/{{NCIS}}'': In the episode "Incognito", a buff, intimidating Master Sergeant is suspected of a recent murder, and protests that he has an alibi, but is reluctant to share it with the agents. Turns out he was at a rehearsal for a community play, specifically ''La Cage aux Folles'' (which centers on a drag show nightclub).
-->'''Tony''': Please tell me you're playing the part of the drag queen Zaza.

* ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'': In [[Recap/StarTrekDeepSpaceNineS01E08Dax "Dax"]], Enina Tandro decides to speak out and exonerate Curzon Dax, the man widely believed to have murdered her late husband General Ardelon Tandro -- Enina and Curzon were having an affair, and he was in her bed at the time of her husband's death.

* Music/LeftyFrizzell: The alibi remains secret in the song "Long Black Veil". The narrator is executed for a murder he didn't commit because he refused to say where he was during the crime. He'd been in the arms of his best friend's wife.
* Music/GaryMoore: In "Over The Hills And Far Away" (also CoveredUp by Music/{{Nightwish}}), the protagonist is convicted of armed robbery because his pistol was found at the crime scene and he had no alibi because he didn't want to admit he'd been sleeping with his best friend's wife at the time.

*** In Chapter 1, [[spoiler:Peko Pekoyama's alibi for the Ultimate Imposter's murder is that she was stricken with terrible stomach cramps and as such, had been on the toilet the entire time. This is initially met with suspicion, until Nekomaru -- who was outside waiting to use the stall himself -- confirms it.]] The others sheepishly admit there's no way someone would lie about such a thing, and [[spoiler:Peko]] is off the hook.

* ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorneyTrialsAndTribulations'': Invoked, and also doubles as FakeAlibi. In case 2, [[spoiler:Luke Atmey frames himself for stealing a sacred urn at the time of a murder he committed in order to establish an alibi for the latter, as well as to invoke double jeopardy for the murder charge.]]

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'': [[Recap/FamilyGuyS2E5LoveThyTrophy "Love Thy Trophy"]] sees the neighborhood at each other's throats when they collectively win first place in the Quahog Harvest Festival Parade. When they discover the trophy has been stolen, Peter is quick to be accused, but he has an alibi.
-->'''Peter:''' I couldn't have stolen it. Last night I was stealing Joe's ladder so I could steal the trophy tonight.\\
[[{{Beat}} (Everyone stares in disapproval)]]\\
'''Peter:''' [[DefensiveWhat What?]] It's a ladder. He can't use it. It's like taking a watch off a dead guy.
* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In "Headhunters", Dipper and Mabel are trying to find out who decapitated a wax statue of Stan. When the evidence seems to point to down-on-his-luck reporter Toby Determined, he proves his innocence by showing video evidence that at the time of the crime, he was in his office making out with a cardboard cutout of his crush, TV reporter Shandra Jimenez.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Recess}}'': In "The Trial," Spinelli is [[ClearMyName falsely accused]] of throwing a rock at Randall, but refuses to reveal what she was doing when Randall was hit, because it would ruin her tough reputation. As it turns out, she was rescuing Miss Finster's cat from a tree.
* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': In [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E1WhoShotMrBurnsPartTwo "Who Shot Mr. Burns, Part Two"]], Seymour Skinner's alibi for the titular shooting is that he was setting out to shoot Burns and was applying warpaint in the school bathroom when Burns was shot. The embarrassing part, which is shown in flashback but he presumably doesn't mention, is that he had mistakenly applied his mother's makeup, and Superintendent Chalmers happened to walk in. Skinner tells the police that Chalmers can vouch for his whereabouts, but "everything else he says is a filthy lie."
* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', in "The Unicorn in Captivity", where 21 needs to deliver The Monarch's flying wings to him without being seen, so he does by disguising them in a box for adult diapers. When the Monarch calls him out on it., he explains the more embarrassing the alibi, the less likely it is that people will question it.

* Music/LeftyFrizzell: Inverted in the song "Long Black Veil". The narrator is executed for a murder he didn't commit because he refused to say where he was during the crime. He'd been in the arms of his best friend's wife.
* Music/GaryMoore: Inverted in "Over The Hills And Far Away" (also CoveredUp by Music/{{Nightwish}}). The protagonist is convicted of armed robbery because his pistol was found at the crime scene and he had no alibi because he didn't want to admit he'd been sleeping with his best friend's wife at the time.

Supertrope of ConfessToALesserCrime. Subtrope of BigSecret and TheAlibi. Compare to EmbarrassingCoverup.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': In Chapter 1, [[spoiler:Peko Pekoyama's alibi for the Ultimate Imposter's murder is that she was stricken with terrible stomach cramps and as such, had been on the toilet the entire time. This is initially met with suspicion, until Nekomaru -- who was outside waiting to use the stall himself -- confirms it.]] The others sheepishly admit there's no way someone would lie about such a thing, and [[spoiler:Peko]] is off the hook.

* Lampshaded in ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'', in "The Unicorn in Captivity", where 21 needs to deliver The Monarch's flying wings to him without being seen, so he does by disguising them in an adult diaper package. When the Monarch calls him out on it. (" Your cover story, is that I shit myself?"), he explains the more embarrassing the alibi, the less likely people will question it.

-> ''"Let me, let me get this straight. You-your alibi for killing your friend is you were... doing his, his wife?"''

* ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'': In “Headhunters”, Dipper and Mabel are trying to find out who decapitated a wax statue of Stan. When the evidence seems to point to down-on-his-luck reporter Toby Determined, he proves his innocence by showing video evidence that at the time of the crime, he was in his office making out with a cardboard cutout of his crush, TV reporter Shandra Jimenez.

** ''VisualNovel/Danganronpa2GoodbyeDespair'': In Chapter 1, [[spoiler:Peko Pekoyama's alibi for the Ultimate Imposter's murder is that she was stricken with terrible stomach cramps and as such, had been on the toilet the entire time. This is initially met with suspicion, until Nekomaru -- who was outside waiting to use the stall himself the entire time -- confirms it.]] The others sheepishly admit there's no way someone would lie about such a thing, and [[spoiler:Peko]] is off the hook.

%%** In the same episode, while being subjected to (and repeatedly failing) a lie detector test, Moe Szyslak's alibi for the titular shooting gets progressively more embarrassing until he finally admits that he was "[[PoorMansPorn ogling the ladies in the Sears catalog]]".%%I'm not sure whether this technically counts as an example or it should just be deleted, but the Sears catalogue thing was what he wanted to go do after the police interrogation. It was not his alibi for the shooting.
%%--->'''Moe:''' Can I go now? I don't deserve this kinda shabby treatment! [''the lie detector goes off'']