Actor Aubrey Plaza dropped an F-bomb on live TV Saturday when she called into the “Lights, Camera, Take Action!” telethon that aired on KTLA-TV Los Angeles and raised nearly $860,000 for the Motion Picture and Television Fund Home.
Plaza spoke excitedly on speakerphone to actor Clark Gregg, who was in the KTLA studio serving as part of the telethon’s celebrity phone bank. KTLA’s longtime entertainment anchor Sam Rubin leaned his microphone into the conversation and asked Plaza about her role on HBO’s “The White Lotus” in its second season.
Plaza joked that the season would end with her killing off the other characters. “They’re all fucking dead,” Plaza joked. Earlier she also dropped a “don’t give a shit.” Rubin apologized to viewers minutes later, sheepishly suggesting that Plaza may not have realized she was on the air live. “We apologize a little for the language,” Rubin said.
FCC rules designate the 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. hours as a “safe harbor” against broadcast radio and TV outlets airing any content defined as obscene, indecent or profane. As a broadcast station, KTLA could be vulnerable to viewer complaints and potential fines. However, the FCC has made exception in recent years for F-bombs defined as “fleeting expletives,” or brief expressions of salty language that is not the focal point of the speech but an embellishment.
The 7-9 p.m. telethon, hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown and Tom Bergeron, generated a steady stream of donations from industry insiders and during the telethon. Nonetheless, the first-ever telethon aimed at the general public in Southern California was a surprise for the century-old organization that has long been a source of pride for the industry. MPTF has proudly embraced the motto “We take care of our own” as a forum for channeling some of Hollywood’s wealth into a retirement home and other benefits for career industryites, from actors to crew members to producers and talent representatives.
“Letting them down is not an option,” Brown told viewers as she detailed her experiences of meeting with numerous MPTF residents at its Chatsworth campus over the years.
The special featured video appearances by such notables as Hugh Jackman, Bryan Cranston, Billy Porter, Jodie Foster, Jeff Bridges, Jason George, June Squibb, Keegan-Michael Key, Tony Goldwyn and more. Phil Rosenthal, creator/showrunner of “Everybody Loves Raymond” and host of foodie series “Somebody Feed Phil,” offered humorous segments touring the MPTF campus.
Actors Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole closed the show with “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow,” the homage to early ’60s folk music boom that earned the pair an Oscar nomination for original song from 2003’s “A Mighty Wind.”
The MPTF last month began sounding the alarm about its post-COVID fundraising crisis that is threatening the health of the organization and its endowment. The extraordinary step of a mounting the MPTF’s first-ever telethon came as a wakeup call to the industry. MPTF president and CEO Bob Beitcher joined Bergeron told viewers toward the end the two hours.
“The message is getting out there. People understand this industry is not only about the people in front of the screen. Its about all those hundreds of people on the set every day,” Beitcher said.