Tons of celebrating went on throughout the entirety of January 1, 2024, and not just because of the change in year. It was a huge day for college sports, thanks largely to the NCAA’s College Football Playoff games, but viewers ended up getting a bit more than they bargained for when one ESPN cameraman unwittingly captured a random woman flashing her breasts down the streets of New Orleans. Following the uncensored footage making it to air, the network released a statement.
Understandably, ESPN execs weren’t eager to celebrate kicking off 2024 with that kind of R-rated moment airing during one of the biggest college football telecasts of the year. The network’s senior director of communications, Bill Hofheimer, shared the following statement, according to the Associated Press:
We regret that this happened and apologize that the video aired in the telecast.
The potentially offending moment took place in the second half of the Sugar Bowl, which featured the Washington Huskies taking on the Texas Longhorns in the second playoff double-header. Following a commercial break, viewers were shown footage of people wandering the streets of New Orleans, many with drinks in hand.
In the middle of the clip, which features several people looking upward to those standing in the balconies down NOLA’s Bourbon St., a woman can be seen pulling her shirt down and exposing her breasts, with the assumption being that she was aiming to have Mardi Gras beads thrown down. (Quite a different experience than Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando.)
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To the shock of exactly no one, social media lit up after the moment transpired, with quite a few viewers expressing everything from chaotic glee to befuddled surprise to to light chiding. Although many were just flat out questioning if what they'd just seen actually happened.
The tweet below essentially sums up a large chunk of the percentage of posts about the eye-catching live TV moment:
YO YALL SEE THAT LADY FLASH THE CAMERA ON ESPN 😂😭 #CFBPlayoffJanuary 2, 2024
Not that people didn't also have jokes and various other amusing comments to make, with most of the jabbing going in ESPN's direction, thankfully, without an abundance of people aiming to shame the woman.
- everyone except the espn director saw that woman getting ready to flash her tits from like a mile away lmao - @JordanFreiman
- Ummmm what’s a little titty flash in the French quarter on !!! #sugarbowl @espn - @ladikara
- @espn I will never be able to unsee that accidental flash that just aired. #SugarBowl - @CO4runnr
- Nice job on the commercial break getting the boob flash ESPN…. lol #TEXvsUW - @walkerthunder
Gotta love that there was even a post already awaiting any form of backlash against the reasoning behind the flash, as seen in the tweet below.
Yes, ESPN showed someone flash the camera in the French Quarter on national television. Please respect local culture and don't shame this behavior.January 2, 2024
After this many years of the Sugar Bowl being held in New Orleans, not to mention all the New Orleans Saints games that have aired on ESPN and other networks, one would think it'd be second nature for camera crews to allow for a slight delay in footage being transmitted, so that bare-breast incidents and beyond can be caught before they pop up before millions of eyeballs. But that would just take away from the unpredictable nature of live TV, where Stanley Cup celebrations have been interrupted by flashing, with live news reports also occasionally interrupted by nudity.
With presumably a plan in place to avoid any and all chances of naked boobs, ESPN will air the 2024 CFP National Championship on Monday, January 8, at 7:30 p.m. ET, with the Washington Huskies taking on the Michigan Wolverines.
