A fleeting expletive is a
non-scripted verbal
profanity
Profanity, also known as cursing, cussing, swearing, bad language, foul language, obscenities, expletives or vulgarism, is a socially offensive use of language. Accordingly, profanity is language use that is sometimes deemed impolite, rud ...
or
obscenity expressed and broadcast during a
live television
Live television is a television production broadcast in real-time, as events happen, in the present. In a secondary meaning, it may refer to streaming television over the Internet when content or programming is played continuously (not on deman ...
broadcast or radio broadcast. The term appears primarily in discussions of United States
broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum ( radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting beg ...
law.
Notable examples
In chronological order:
*While accepting her Lifetime Achievement Award at the
2002 ''Billboard'' Music Awards,
Cher said "
fuck 'em" regarding those she felt had criticized her throughout her career.
*During the January
2003 Golden Globe Awards,
Bono accepted an award exclaiming, "This is really, really, fucking brilliant."
*At the December 2003 Billboard Music Awards,
Nicole Richie said, "Have you ever tried to get
cowshit out of a
Prada purse? It's not so
fucking simple."
* On an episode of ''
Big Brother 10'' (2008), there was a heated argument with many muted expletives; however, one went through when someone said, "Memphis was in the fucking room."
*
Jenny Slate
Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...
said "and I fucking love you for that" during a parody of a talk show by biker women. It was her first appearance as a player on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
''.
*On March 23, 2010, U.S. Vice President
Joe Biden, commenting on the passage of the
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act during a live press conference, said to U.S. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...
, "This is a big fucking deal." The comment was picked up by
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
news
hot mic
A hot mic, sometimes referred to as an open microphone or (in aviation) a stuck mic, is in general an apparent error in which a microphone is switched on or remains on, especially without the speaker's realizing.
As used in online gaming, the t ...
s.
*On November 19, 2011, during a live taping of
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
's
''College GameDay'' at the
University of Houston
The University of Houston (UH) is a public research university in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1927, UH is a member of the University of Houston System and the university in Texas with over 47,000 students. Its campus, which is primarily in s ...
,
college football analyst
Lee Corso
Lee Richard Corso (born August 7, 1935) is an American sports broadcaster and football analyst for ESPN and a former coach. He has been a featured analyst on ESPN's '' College GameDay'' program since its inception in 1987. Corso served as the he ...
said, "Ah, fuck it" before he put on the headwear of
Shasta, the University of
Houston Cougars' mascot, demonstrating his prediction that the Cougars would beat the
Mustangs
The mustang is a free-roaming horse of the Western United States, descended from horses brought to the Americas by the Spanish. Mustangs are often referred to as wild horses, but because they are descended from once-domesticated animals, they ...
of
Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, ...
. Corso's co-hosts
Kirk Herbstreit
Kirk Edward Herbstreit (; born August 19, 1969) is an American sportscaster and former college football player. He serves as an analyst for ESPN's '' College GameDay'', a television program covering college football, and he also provides color ...
and
Chris Fowler
Chris Fowler (born ) is an American sports broadcaster for ESPN, who serves as the play-by-play announcer for ''Saturday Night Football'' on ABC and ESPN’s tennis coverage. He is also known for his work on '' College GameDay'', which he h ...
and their guest speaker
Carl Lewis
Frederick Carlton Lewis (born July 1, 1961) is an American former track and field athlete who won nine Olympic gold medals, one Olympic silver medal, and 10 World Championships medals, including eight gold. His career spanned from 1979 to 1996 ...
laughed hysterically in response to his use of the expletive, for which Corso later apologized.
*On December 18, 2011, during a
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
broadcast of the
Cincinnati Bengals at the
St. Louis Rams
The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994.
The arr ...
, St. Louis guard Harvey Dahl protested referee
Jerome Boger
Jerome Leonard Boger ( ; born July 1, 1955) is an American football official in the National Football League (NFL) since the 2004 NFL season. He has worn uniform number 23 since 2006; before that, he wore uniform number 109. He started in the le ...
's holding call against him by saying, "I know you didn't just call me for holding. That's not fuckin' holding!" It was heard over the stadium PA system through Boger's open microphone, and aired. CBS commentator
Dan Dierdorf
Daniel Lee Dierdorf (born June 29, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former football offensive tackle.
A native of Canton, Ohio, Dierdorf played college football for the University of Michigan from 1968 to 1970 and was selected as a conse ...
apologized for the slip, and Dahl was assessed a second penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
*On November 4, 2012, during the
Dolphins
A dolphin is an aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. Dolphin species belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontoporiidae (t ...
-
Colts game at
Lucas Oil Stadium in
Indianapolis, referee
Tony Corrente
Anthony Joseph Corrente (born November 12, 1951) is a former American football official in the National Football League (NFL) who served for 26 years from 1995 until his retirement in 2021. He wore uniform number 99. He was the referee of Supe ...
loudly said, "God damn it!"
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
play-by-play announcer
Kevin Harlan
Kevin Harlan (born June 21, 1960) is an American television and radio sports announcer. The son of former Green Bay Packers executive Bob Harlan, he broadcasts NFL and college basketball games on CBS and the NBA for TNT.
2022 will be his 38th ...
apologized on-air because Corrente's illegal language slipped past the censors. Corrente himself would apologize, but not before the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
fined him a game check.
*On April 20, 2013, during a passionate pre-game speech dedicated to the victims of the
Boston Marathon bombing
The Boston Marathon bombing was a domestic terrorist attack that took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013. Two terrorists, brothers Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted two homemade pressure cooker bombs, w ...
,
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...
player
David Ortiz said, "This is our fucking city."
FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
chairman
Julius Genachowski
Julius Genachowski (born August 19, 1962) is an American lawyer and businessman. He became the Federal Communications Commission Chairman on June 29, 2009. On March 22, 2013, he announced he would be leaving the FCC in the coming weeks. On Januar ...
later tweeted from the official page of the organization, saying "David Ortiz spoke from the heart at today's Red Sox game. I stand with Big Papi and the people of Boston." Although 25 complaints were lodged with the FCC, no action was taken and neither Ortiz nor the Boston Red Sox were fined for using the expletive.
*On October 28, 2017, during Game 4 of the
2017 World Series
The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and th ...
matchup between the
Houston Astros and the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
at
Minute Maid Park
Minute Maid Park is a retractable roof stadium in Houston, Texas, United States. It opened in 2000 as the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Houston Astros. It has a seating capacity of 41,168, which includes 5,197 club seats and 63 ...
in
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, Astros player
Brian McCann used "Fuck" after being struck-out by Dodgers pitcher
Alex Wood. The word was picked up on a
FOX
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
camera.
*On November 6, 2018, during his concession speech, Beto O'Rourke said, "I'm so fucking proud of you guys!" after losing a Senate election to
Ted Cruz
Rafael Edward "Ted" Cruz (; born December 22, 1970) is an American politician and attorney serving as the junior United States Senator from Texas since 2013. A member of the Republican Party, Cruz served as Solicitor General of Texas from ...
. It was aired on live television, and MSNBC later apologized for this occurrence. "Sorry for the F-bomb," said Brian Williams, a news anchor.
*On January 7, 2021, in the wake of the
2021 United States Capitol attack,
Joe Scarborough
Charles Joseph Scarborough (; born April 9, 1963) is an American television host, attorney, political commentator, and former politician who is the co-host of ''Morning Joe'' on MSNBC with his wife Mika Brzezinski. He previously hosted ''Scarbo ...
, on his show ''
Morning Joe'', accused the
United States Capitol Police
The United States Capitol Police (USCP) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States with nationwide jurisdiction charged with protecting the United States Congress within the District of Columbia and throughout the United States an ...
of not stopping the rioters, saying "
..then Trump supporters come in, and you open the FUCKING doors for them".
*On May 24, 2022, in the wake of the
Robb Elementary School shooting
On May 24, 2022, a mass shooting occurred at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, United States, where 18-year-old Salvador Ramos, a former student at the school, fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded seventeen other ...
, activist
Fred Guttenberg decried "They fucking failed our kids again" on ''
Deadline: White House''.
Legal status
U.S. Supreme Court case (2008)
On March 17, 2008, the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
agreed to
hear, in September 2008, a case on whether the
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdicti ...
(FCC) is allowed to regulate the use of fleeting expletives on television broadcasts.
The parties in the case are the
Fox Broadcasting Company
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by Fox C ...
(supported by other
television network
A television network or television broadcaster is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay television providers. Until the mid- ...
s including
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
,
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
, and
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
) and the FCC.
A
federal appeals court
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
had ruled in the favor of the networks; the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the FCC's appeal.
In a ruling issued April 28, 2009, the United States Supreme Court ruled to uphold the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) fleeting expletive rule.
The court reversed a lower court ruling in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York which found in favor of
Fox Television
The Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly known simply as Fox and stylized in all caps as FOX, is an American commercial broadcast television network owned by Fox Corporation and headquartered in New York City, with master control operations and ...
that the FCC had not properly followed procedures in creating the rule. In the 5–4 ruling by Justice
Antonin Scalia, "the court did not definitively settle the
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
implications of allowing a federal agency to
censor broadcasts." Instead the court suggested the First Amendment issue should be raised in a
Federal Appeals Court
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
.
U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals (2010)
In a ruling announced July 13, 2010, the
U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC indecency policy on fleeting expletives. Calling it "unconstitutionally vague", the unanimous three-judge panel found the policy could infringe upon the constitutionally protected
First Amendment
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
freedom of speech. According to the panel, the policy "created a chilling effect that goes far beyond the fleeting expletives at issue here", in part due to a lack of guidance on what content is considered offensive.
Fox released a statement stating, "We have always felt that the government's position on fleeting expletives was unconstitutional," and, "While we will continue to strive to eliminate expletives from live broadcasts, the inherent challenges broadcasters face with live television, coupled with the human element required for monitoring, must allow for the unfortunate isolated instances where inappropriate language slips through."
[F.C.C. Indecency Policy Rejected on Appeal](_blank)
by Edward Wyatt, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
''
FCC Chairman
Julius Genachowski
Julius Genachowski (born August 19, 1962) is an American lawyer and businessman. He became the Federal Communications Commission Chairman on June 29, 2009. On March 22, 2013, he announced he would be leaving the FCC in the coming weeks. On Januar ...
indicated the commission will be "reviewing the court's decision in light of our commitment to protect children, empower parents, and uphold the First Amendment."
U.S. Supreme Court ruling (2012)
In June 2012, the Supreme Court rescinded several fines issued by the FCC regarding indecent content, including the Fox case stemming from the 2002 ''Billboard'' Music Awards. The court ruled that the FCC's change in enforcement policy to target fleeting instances of profanities and nudity on television was too vague, thus violating their rights to
due process. The court did not address the policies themselves.
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council opinion
In cases of live microphones capturing profanities used by players during a
football game, the
Canadian Broadcast Standards Council
The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC) is an industry funded self-regulating organization created by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters to administer standards established by its own members, Canada's private broadcasters.
The coun ...
(CBSC) adopted the opinion that under the Code of Ethics of the
Canadian Association of Broadcasters
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) is a trade association representing the interests of commercial radio and television broadcasters in Canada. It is co-located with the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council in Ottawa.
It was first ...
, "given the goal of 'ensuring a 'safe haven' for audiences uncomfortable with the use of coarse or offensive language' some efforts need to be made to reconcile the potential for adult content", including viewer advisories.
See also
*
Wardrobe malfunction
A wardrobe malfunction is a clothing failure that accidentally or intentionally exposes a person's intimate parts. It is different from deliberate incidents of indecent exposure or public flashing. Justin Timberlake first used the term when apol ...
, for fleeting nudity
*
Watershed (broadcasting)
In broadcasting, the watershed is the time of day after which programming aimed towards mature or adult audiences is permitted.
In the same way that a geological watershed divides two drainage basins, a broadcasting watershed serves as a dividing ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
Playful Commentary on June 2007 Decision by Federals Appeals Court
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fleeting Expletive
Censorship in the United States
Federal Communications Commission
American legal terminology
Censorship of broadcasting
Profanity
*