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Viewers of a now-viral video are sharing their amazement at a TV reporter who maintained her composure during a live broadcast after a huge flying cockroach unexpectedly landed on her mid-report.
Rachel Menitoff, a reporter for Los Angeles station KTLA News, was covering dangerous conditions caused by extreme heat from Sherman Oaks, California, on Wednesday during an evening live shot. Her report took an unexpected turn when a giant insect interrupted the segment.
Menitoff later posted a video on Instagram of the broadcast that shows a large cockroach landing on her neck before crawling across her body, making its way on to her microphone, and eventually flying off.
“Yes, this is a flying cockroach,” text over the video read.
Although she could clearly feel the insect, Menitoff continued delivering her report and completed the segment without stopping or indicating to viewers that she was bothered. Once the broadcast ended, the video shows her quickly brushing off her shoulders and shaking as she searched for the bug. Someone off camera laughs and asks, “How did you not move?”
Menitoff later poked fun at the incident in the Instagram caption, saying the cockroach was “Trying to steal my thunder.”
KTLA also posted the clip on X, where Menitoff’s colleagues commented on what happened.
“SURPRISE LANDING,” the local channel captioned the post. “An insect crashed @KTLA reporter @RachelMenitoff’s live shot last night, and we must praise her professionalism. Who else could remain this cool!?”
After watching the video, KTLA anchor Eric Spillman remarked, “That’s terrifying, though!”
“How she didn’t freak out despite being in camera is beyond me,” wrote one viewer in response to the post on X.
“The way I would scream and cuss and yell and throw up and start a fire and run away hysterically crying … Kudos to this woman,” wrote another viewer.
A fellow reporter at Axios simply said: “Give this woman a promotion.”
Animals interrupting reporters is a time-honored tradition in the world of live news, with countless examples going viral over the years. In 2020, CNN reporter Joe Johns was forced to fend off a raccoon on the White House lawn moments before going on air, while lamenting that this was the second time such a thing had happened.
In 2021, a Moscow correspondent’s live weather report was interrupted by a dog who snatched her microphone and ran off with it. In late 2022, a reporter in Kenya went viral after a particularly affectionate baby elephant disrupted his segment about human impacts on the environment. In yet another example, a live 2019 interview in Kineta, Greece, was brought to a dramatic halt on when a large, mottled sow decided to display her fondness for a male reporter on air.
All of these instances, while perhaps just as startling in the moment, are decidedly cuter than Menitoff’s experience. According to NBC, the KTLA reporter responded to viewers praising her ability to stay composed on her Instagram story, writing: “Trust me, it was NOT easy to keep my cool.”
