A TV news rookie at NBC News affiliate KFYR-TV in North Dakota has been fired after he let go with an obscenity just seconds into the start of his very first anchoring job.
Apparently not realizing his microphone was live, A.J. Clemente was heard saying "F**king s**t" 15 seconds into his on-air appearance on Sunday night, reported the
New York Post.
Clemente was initially suspended by the Bismark station and then fired on Monday afternoon.
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Clemente's outburst led to an immediate apology by his co-host Van Tieu at the start of the following news hour.
"We were caught off guard and [Clemente] didn't realize his microphone was on," Tieu told viewers. "And while that was no excuse - we do train our reporters to always assume that any microphone is live at any time - unfortunately we cannot take back what was said."
"But, we do apologize and hope that you may forgive us and rest assured, that something like this will not happen again," she added.
Clemente took to Twitter to issue an apology to viewers.
"Tough day, Thanks for the support, We all make mistakes. Im truly sorry for mine. I'll try my hardest to come back better and learn from this," tweeted Clemente.
Hours later, Clemente clarified that contrary to reports he did not say "gay" shortly before the uttering the curse.
"I just want to say that I did not say the word gay, I was trying to pronounce the London Marathon winners name Tsegaye Kebede," Clemente claimed on Twitter.
Clemente then turned to Twitter again, announcing his firing to his followers and thanking them for their support as well as the opportunity his former network gave him.
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Attempting to make light of his dismissal, Clemente's final tweet reads: "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."
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