Fox News host Sean Hannity joked that he was going to throw his staff down the stairs after he flubbed the name of a Congressman during a broadcast.
Every reporter gets a name wrong once in awhile, but Hannity had the misfortune of getting Congressman Tim Burchett's name wrong not only in front of the man himself, but in front of a live studio audience.
The fumble occurred as Hannity was introducing Mr Burchett to discuss the much-hyped House Subcommittee hearing on unidentified aerial phenomena.
Mr Burchett has been a vocal supporter of the witnesses who testified during the meeting about their encounters with UAPs and — in the case of former intelligence officer David Grusch — allegations regarding murderous coverups and the recovery of non-human bodies.
Hannity welcomed Mr Burchett onto the show, calling him "Tom" instead of Tim. Mr Burchett initially tried to correct Hannity, but the applause of the Fox News anchor's live studio audience drowned him out.
After Hannity introduced the topic of discussion — making it clear that he, at least on his show, is treating the witnesses as credible — Mr Burchett finally got a chance to offer a correction.
"My name's Tim. Sorry to correct you," he told the host.
Hannity apologised for his mix-up – and then threw his staff under the bus.
"I'm going to blame my staff and throw them down the stairs, but that's ok," he said, prompting laughter from the live studio audience.
The rest of the segment played out without a hitch.
While it's clear by Hannity's tenor that he was joking about abusing his staff, it may have been an instance of a joke coming "too soon."
Less than a month ago Fox News paid a former producer on Tucker Carlson's show won $12m in a settlement after she claimed the set was an abusive place to work.
Abby Grossberg, the former producer, said Carlson's show was a hotbed of bigotry, misogyny, and bullying.
"I am hopeful, based on our discussions with Fox News today, that this resolution represents a positive step by the Network regarding its treatment of women and minorities in the workplace," her attorney, Tanvir Rahman, wrote in a statement following the settlement.
