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CES 2014: Michael Bay walks off stage after embarrassing Autocue error

The director looked flustered and said 'I'm sorry' before leaving the stage

Tuesday 07 January 2014 10:44 GMT

Michael Bay on stage with Samsung VP Joe Stinziano at the Consumer Electronic Show (AFP/Getty Images)

He is best known for directing Hollywood blockbusters full of explosions, but less could be said for Michael Bay’s appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Scroll to see Bay walking off stage

The Transformers director walked off stage during a presentation for Samsung's new curved high definition TV sets, after the auto-cue broke and he felt uncomfortable with "winging it".

Bay was delivering the presentation as a brand ambassador for Samsung, and was due to show a clip from the new Transformers film.

But the action film director soon became flustered during a scripted conversation with the company's vice president Joe Stinziano.

After the auto-cue stopped working, Bay became anxious and started to circle the stage, saying:"The type is all off, sorry, but I'll just wing this."

Stinaziano tried to keep the presentation going, saying:"Tell us what you think, we'll just, we'll wing it right now."

Bay continued, before tailing off:"I try to keep people on an emotional ride and..."

Stinaziano then asked the Armageddon and Pearl Harbour director how he thought the new technology,"The Curve", would impact how viewers watched his movies, but it all proved too much for Bay.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he said, before walking swiftly off stage.

He later wrote on his blog that he had "embarrassed himself" and that live shows weren't his "thing", but did not make a formal apology.

"Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES - I was about to speak for Samsung for this awesome Curved 105-inch UHD TV. I rarely lend my name to any products, but this one is just stellar," he said.

"I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP's intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down - then I walked off. I guess live shows aren't my thing. But I'm doing a special curved screen experience with Samsung and Transformers 4 footage that will be travelling around the world."

Read more:

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Show all 10

1/10Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike fluff the BAFTAs

Awards ceremonies seem cursed with autocue disasters. The BAFTA Awards in 2011 saw actors Dominic Cooper and Rosamund Pike flounder after the machine broke. Pike panicked and nearly read out the winner of Best Original Screenplay before she had announced the nominees. Ever the consummate professional, host Jonathan Ross dashed in to stop her, joking that it was 'the fastest (he had) moved for years'.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Introducing...The Four Tops.'

Back in 1989 at the BRIT Awards, presenters Samantha Fox and Mick Fleetwood suffered from an 'autocue apocalypse' when they misread their lines on the teleprompter, stumbling over their words. The haply duo then failed to show a recorded message from Michael Jackson and incorrectly introduced Culture Club frontman Boy George as The Four Tops.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Oh b*****ks!'

Also in 2011, comedian Lenny Henry messed up an autocued joke twice while guest presenting The Five O’Clock Show on Channel 4. He shouted 'b*****ks' three times in a desperate effort to recover - Channel 4 were forced to issue an apology for any offence caused by teatime swearing.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'The former home of the poet and author...Hilaire Bollock.'

BBC South presenter Sally Taylor gave poet Hilaire Belloc an X-rated surname in April 2009, when she described a building as 'the former home of the poet and author Hilaire Bollock'. Many would have crumbled, into fits of giggles or sheer mortification, but Taylor continued straight-faced with not so much as a pause.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Coming up: No more than 12 words or four seconds.'

Experienced news presenter Adam Boulton gave Sky News viewers a fun surprise in 2009 when he was fed the wrong filler copy to read by one of his colleagues. 'Coming up', he said. 'No more than 12 words or four seconds. I don’t understand that at all.' Choosing to acknowledge the technical failure with humourous authority served Boulton well – a technique many fail on.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'Sorry about that guys.'

Even the most powerful men in the world fall at the feet of the omnipotent teleprompter. Barack Obama is always accompanied by two devices but, in July 2009, one gadget tumbled over and smashed while he was giving a speech about the economy. 'Oh goodness! Sorry about that, guys,' he said before ad-libbing like a champ.

Getty

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Bill Clinton shows everyone how it's done

Then there was Bill Clinton in 1993, who was plagued by an Autocue mare while speaking to Congress. Horror of horrors, his teleprompter had been plugged with someone else’s speech and it took a 'please ground swallow me up' seven minutes to rectify the error. Or at least, that’s how many would have described it. Not the US president, however, who plodded on from memory as if nothing had gone awry.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

'You're watching ABC News. I'm Michael Roland.'

Like Taylor, Australian news presenter Virginia Trioli opted for the 'pretend nothing happened' method when, in 2010, she told ABC’s audience: 'Good morning. You’re watching ABC News 24. I’m Michael Roland.' Being able to announce one’s own name without technological help is sort of a prerequisite of any job, surely?

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Brian Cowen copies Barack Obama's speech

Former Irish prime minister Brian Cowen read 20 seconds of an address that Barack Obama had given moments earlier on St Patrick’s Day in 2009. It took him a good few lines before the political leader realised that he had been accidentally copying his host’s words – ouch.

Ten of the best Autocue disasters

Gordon Brown's face mask

Former Labour Party leader Gordon Brown was launching his 2007 campaign when a damned Autocue screen went and obscured half his face during a speech. Apparently news crews had been given strict restrictions about where the cameras could be placed, meaning that Brown’s address was broadcast to audiences who could not see him.

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