Back in 2009, the Today show’s usually cheerful entertainment reporter, Richard Wilkins broke script.
Looking sombrely down the barrel of the camera, he announced to viewers that “Jeff Goldblum fell from a cliff… to his death while filming in New Zealand”.
The only problem? Goldblum was very much alive.
This, however, might somehow be worse.
@9honey Whoops! At least Jeff Goldblum was a good sport about it when Richard Wilkins accidentally announced the actor had died after falling from a cliff 👀 . . . #jeffgoldblum #tv #actor #celebritydeaths #awkward #trending #fyp ♬ Sad background music of piano and strings – Rinotzr
UK broadcaster Radio Caroline has been forced to apologise after mistakenly announcing the death of King Charles III due to what it described as a “computer error”.
The station accidentally triggered its “Death of a Monarch” protocol on Tuesday afternoon, broadcasting a false announcement that the King had died before abruptly falling silent.
In a statement issued afterwards, the station said:
“Due to a computer error at our main studio, the Death of a Monarch procedure, which all UK stations hold in readiness while hoping not to require, was accidentally activated on Tuesday afternoon (19 May), mistakenly announcing that HM the King had passed away.
“Radio Caroline then fell silent as would be required, which alerted us to restore programming and issue an on-air apology.
“Caroline has been pleased to broadcast Her Majesty the Queen’s, and now the King’s, Christmas Message and we hope to do so for many years to come.
“We apologise to HM the King and to our listeners for any distress caused.”
The pirate station that changed British radio
Long before Spotify playlists and tightly programmed breakfast radio duopolies, Radio Caroline was disrupting the British audio market from a ship in the North Sea.
Launched in 1964, the outlaw broadcaster transmitted pop music from international waters off the English coast, sidestepping the BBC’s tight grip on the airwaves and quickly building a loyal audience.
Despite a government crackdown on pirate radio operators in the late 1960s, the station continued broadcasting in various forms for decades, eventually ending its offshore operations in 1990.
Its legacy later became part of pop culture folklore, inspiring the 2009 film The Boat That Rocked, starring Bill Nighy and Philip Seymour Hoffman, about a rogue group of DJs broadcasting illegally from a boat at sea.