On-Air Personalities Who Couldn't Hide Their Questionable Pasts

The landscape of journalism is constantly changing in accordance with the latest trends and technology — and nobody knows that better than on-air personalities who deliver the news to our television screens. In 2010, a Pew Research survey (via CNN) found that 75% of Americans consumed at least some of their news from emails and social media, a stark contrast to the previous decade when TV news broadcasts reigned supreme. The study noted, "The days of loyalty to a particular news organization on a particular piece of technology in a particular form are gone." During the 2010s, social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter (now X) helped speed up the news cycle by introducing the concept of going viral. News organizations quickly hitched their wagons to this rapid-fire approach to media distribution. As a result, news is now gathered, shared, and consumed at breakneck speeds. 

Despite the ever-evolving state of journalism, many Americans still get their news from on-air personalities. Known for their charm, earnestness, and accuracy, national news broadcasters are celebrities in their own right. But it isn't easy to stay on top of current events while also presenting a likeable persona — and throughout the years, many famous on-air personalities have fallen out of favor with viewers. In some cases, disgraced newscasters have been rocked by explosive scandals. Further still, some problematic news anchors have tried to hide their checkered pasts. Unfortunately for the on-air personalities on our list, their dubious deeds eventually caught up with them.

In March 2024, NBC hired Ronna McDaniel as a political commentator. McDaniel's hiring immediately raised eyebrows at the network. After all, as former chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, she'd spent the last several years working behind the scenes. But it wasn't McDaniel's previous job that sparked controversy at the network; it was the fact that she'd engaged in election denialism following the 2020 presidential race. As reported by Detroit News, McDaniel had joined former president Donald Trump in asking election officials in Michigan not to certify their election results. During a recorded phone call, McDaniel urged the officials, "If you can go home tonight, do not sign it. ... We will get you attorneys." The political analyst doubled down in a 2020 episode of "Fox & Friends," where she claimed the election was "rigged" (via Newsweek).

NBC anchor Rachel Maddow slammed McDaniel's hiring on-air, calling it "inexplicable" and asking network executives to "reverse their decision." Another newscaster, Mika Brzezinski, criticized the network's decision during her segment on "Morning Joe." "To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage," Brzezinski told viewers (via NBC News). "But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier." Needless to say, McDaniel couldn't hide her questionable past for long: a few days after being hired, she was fired from NBC. 

In 2017, NBC hired former Fox News anchor, Megyn Kelly. Kelly's onboarding was controversial from the start, with many network insiders questioning whether the conservative newscaster would resonate with NBC's audience. Nonetheless, Kelly proceeded to host her own NBC morning show, "Megyn Kelly Today," during the 9 o'clock hour of "Today." 

In 2018, Kelly invited an all-white panel on her show to discuss the implications of blackface Halloween costumes. During the segment, Kelly defended the use of blackface, stating, "Back when I was a kid that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as, like, a character" (via CNN). Viewers were enraged by Kelly's comments, and several NBC colleagues criticized her on-air. Kelly quickly followed up with an apology, but the damage was already done. Within days, her show was cancelled. In January 2019, Kelly was officially sacked from NBC. 

Kelly's comments clearly struck a nerve within the network, but many were quick to point out that it wasn't her first offense. Several outlets noted that the newscaster had a history of evoking racist stereotypes and making light of issues that impact Black communities. In 2008, the news anchor was slammed for referring to former first lady Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama" in a caption on her Fox News show. These incidents showed that Kelly had been making racially insensitive statements on-air for a long time — but it took several years for her to face consequences.

Broadcasting legend Dan Rather spent decades at the helm of popular news shows like "60 Minutes" and "CBS Evening News." Unfortunately, his legacy unraveled in 2004 when he shared an unsubstantiated report on "60 Minutes." During the fateful segment, Rather delivered a bombshell report about the military career of then-president George W. Bush. The news anchor claimed that Bush had exploited his family's powerful connections while serving in the Texas Air National Guard, which resulted in preferential treatment. To prove his assertions, Rather cited a supposed military file that came to be known as the Killian Documents.

Rather's report garnered skepticism from critics who claimed the documents were forged. Initially, Rather and CBS doubled down on their work — but the truth didn't stay hidden for long. After a few days, the network admitted that they couldn't verify the authenticity of the documents. In September 2004, the anchorman issued an on-air apology, calling the report "a mistake in judgment" (via CBS News). Rather was ousted from the network in March 2005 after his CBS contract ended. Although he wasn't the only person involved in the Killian Documents scandal, Rather took the fall for the journalistic catastrophe.

Unlike some of his fellow disgraced news anchors, Rather was able to rise above his controversy and salvage his journalism career. In the following years, he moved on to the HDNet network and became a social media sensation, thus joining the ranks of fired news anchors who wouldn't just go away.

In the quest to sniff out breaking news, some journalists have been known to take extreme measures, even if it means breaking the law. That's exactly what happened in 2009, when Fox News anchor James Rosen was accused of espionage due to his investigative activities. According to The Intercept, Rosen reached out to a federal contractor named Stephen Jin-Woo Kim and convinced him to share classified details about North Korea's nuclear weapons program. For several weeks, the men held secret meetings where Kim divulged top-secret information to Rosen. Eventually, Rosen published his findings, which contained details known only to a handful of government officials. The FBI quickly took notice and launched an investigation into the journalist. 

Armed with a search warrant, authorities seized Rosen's emails and phone records, which contained evidence of his correspondence with Kim. According to court documents, the news anchor attempted to cover his tracks — and protect Kim's identity — by using pseudonyms and communicating in code. Despite these measures, Rosen's misdeeds came to light, and federal investigators accused him of violating the Espionage Act of 1917. In another court document, authorities questioned Rosen's tactics, accusing him of "employing flattery and playing to Mr. Kim's vanity and ego" (via the Los Angeles Times). In 2014, Kim was sentenced to 13 months in prison for his role in the information leak. Rosen was never charged. However, in 2018, the Fox News personality left the network amid sexual harassment allegations.

In the 2010s, Charlie Rose was one of journalism's brightest stars. After launching his career in 1974, the broadcaster became a fixture on programs like "Nightwatch," "60 Minutes," and "CBS This Morning." In the '90s, he embarked on his long-running series, "Charlie Rose," which aired on PBS and Bloomberg Television. Rose picked up numerous accolades along the way, including Emmys, Peabody Awards, and several honorary college degrees — but it all came crashing down when his questionable past came to light.

In November 2017, at the peak of the Me Too Movement, several former colleagues came forward to report that Rose had sexually harassed them. In response, the anchorman was fired by CBS, PBS, and Bloomberg. A CBS News executive announced Rose's firing in a public statement, calling his alleged behavior "extremely disturbing and intolerable" (via NBC News). Shortly after his sacking, Rose issued an apology via the Washington Post.

Rose's sexual misconduct and subsequent firing should have been an open-and-shut case. However, in 2018, the Washington Post revealed that network executives knew about his behavior for several years and tried to cover it up. According to a lawyer who represented three of Rose's alleged victims, CBS "failed and refused" to act on complaints against the newsman. "Management, numerous broadcasters and studio staff witnessed Mr. Rose's unlawful conduct," the attorney stated. "And complaints were made."

As a foreign correspondent for USA Today, Jack Kelley willingly put himself in some of the most dire situations imaginable. For two decades, the journalist traveled the globe, honing his sights on wars, immigration, terrorism, and the like. In the media world, Kelley was lauded as a hero for his harrowing news stories; he even received a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 2002. However, there was one gargantuan problem with Kelley's news reports: some of them were entirely fabricated.

Kelley's journalistic facade began to crumble in 2004 when USA Today received an anonymous letter stating that the newsman had faked several of his stories. In response, the broadcasting company launched an investigation, and Kelley resigned from his job. Ultimately, USA Today discovered that Kelley had fabricated the details of several reports, including one where he claimed to have witnessed a bombing in the Middle East. In another instance, Kelley was found to have made up a story involving the drowning deaths of Cuban refugees. As the investigation unfolded, USA Today also found more than 100 cases of plagiarism in Kelley's work.

Unlike some disgraced news anchors, Kelley took great measures to hide his misdeeds. As the New York Times noted, the dubious newsman had recruited fake eyewitnesses to corroborate his reports. Kelley reportedly coached these individuals on what to say in the event of an editorial review — and in some cases, he wrote scripts for them to recite.

Since joining CNN in 2017, Kaitlan Collins has been lauded as a broadcasting superstar. At just 28 years old, she became the youngest chief White House Correspondent in CNN's history, a feat for which the Washington Post dubbed her a "journalism prodigy." Collins kicked off her career writing puff pieces for a conservative website called the Daily Caller but quickly rose through the ranks. Soon, she made the leap to CNN and spearheaded popular programs like "CNN This Morning" and "The Source." But in the midst of her rise to media golden girl status, some of Collins' old Tweets came back to haunt her.

In 2018, a Republican LGBTQ+ group known as the Log Cabin Republicans dug up some problematic statements that Collins had posted on X (formerly Twitter) in 2011. In the offending posts, Collins used a homophobic slur and expressed apprehension about having a lesbian roommate. The insensitive remarks landed the news anchor in hot water. Collins responded to the uproar with a public apology, writing, "When I was in college, I used ignorant language in a few tweets to my friends. It was immature but it doesn't represent the way I feel at all. I regret it and apologize." A gay CNN executive also chimed in on the controversy, writing that he was "disappointed" in Collins' language but was "proud" of the person she is today (via X).

For 17 years, Don Lemon was one of the most popular and influential faces at CNN. But his legacy took a turn in 2023 when the newscaster made some off-color remarks about Republican politician Nikki Haley. "Nikki Haley isn't in her prime, sorry," Lemon said during an episode of "CNN This Morning" (via the Associated Press). "When a woman is considered to be in her prime — in her 20s, 30s and maybe her 40s." Lemon's comments received heated backlash from social media users who quickly pointed out their misogynistic undertones. 

Later that day, Lemon issued an apology. "A woman's age doesn't define her either personally or professionally," he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). But the news anchor had already sealed his fate: in April 2023, Lemon was let go from CNN. Nonetheless, Lemon took his firing in stride, going on vacation and briefly hosting "The Don Lemon Show" on X.

After his ousting from CNN, Variety reported that Lemon's sexist behavior was a recurring problem at the network. According to unnamed sources who spoke with the publication, Lemon had an antagonistic relationship with many of his female colleagues. The sources claimed that, in 2008, Lemon used a burner phone to threaten his co-anchor and rival, Kyra Phillips. According to another insider, Lemon called a female colleague fat during an argument. Another ex-coworker, Goldie Taylor, told Variety, "[I]t seems to me that when he says something offensive, there's almost always a woman on the other side."