Fired: Finnish News Anchor Caught ‘Drinking’ On Air
- Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:34pm by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Kimmo Wilska may be the most popular English-speaking newsreader in Finland. But now he’s the most popular English-speaking newsreader in Finland looking for a job.
Wilska was fired from Finland’s YLE network after pretending to drink from a beer bottle while reporting on an alcohol licensing story.
9News explains the unlucky series of events:
Kimmo Wilska, who is the country’s most famous English-language anchor, was delivering a story about Finland’s alcohol licensing laws.
While footage was rolling on the screen, he took a swig from a beer bottle.
But the camera cut back to Wilska while he was still taking a sip.
Wilska, dubbed the ‘Barry White of Finland’ because of his gravelly voice, is an anchorman at YLE, the country’s second largest TV channel.
He said the prank was meant for his colleagues in the studio and not to be broadcast on air.
(H/T: Mediaite)
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Comments (59)
gingerds9
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 3:01pmFinland, not Finald (1st sentence)
Report Post »mcFirst
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:51pmChrysler has some management jobs open. Once in the union you can drink all you want.
Report Post »dtrask
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:25pmSo… THAT GUY is the most popular English-speaking news reader in Finland? They could replace him with text-to-speech software. A computer won’t spill beer on the news desk, either.
Report Post »catndahat
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:21pmShotgun is right: “Why would they fire him over that?????? They must be liberals. They should pass some liberal laws banning such activities. Being that liberals can pass a law for everything.”
He was just having having some fun with coworkers-big deal if it was on air; apologize, move on, fuggedaboutit!
Report Post »smokie
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:09pmI see that, like France, Finland likes the “I slept under the desk in my clothes” look.
Report Post »Ozzie
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:08pmWhy is the Blaze covering this? It seems pretty irrelevant given everything that’s going on in our country.
Report Post »INTHEBEGININGGOD
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:03pmYou have to be kidding !!
Report Post »Fighting4America
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:01pmFirst of all who was watching. He almost put me to sleep with his monotone reporting. That said, are you kidding me. Glad I don’t work there. I’m always joking around. In Bill Clinton’s words “I didn’t even swallow” (inhale) you get it.
Report Post »NoStar
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:25pmIt was Monica, not Clinton, who didn’t swallow.
Report Post »adifftake
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:01pmOH come on. the bottle wasn’t touching his lips. Can’t the Fins take a joke, or has the whole world gone over to the dark side. I hear msnbc may be looking.
Report Post »jgrant
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:00pmI can’t believe he kept a straight face after that. He got fired for this? Lame…
Report Post »INTHEBEGININGGOD
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:58pmYou have to be kidding.
Report Post »Docrow
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:55pmThat was a joke, maybe a bad one but still just a joke.
Report Post »Prospero
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:54pmUmmmm…fired for drinking some beer. Wow. I can’t even count the times my many different bosses at many different companies brought beer in on an afternoon. Hmm.
I’m not sure I care for the nanny state much.
Report Post »Country
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:54pmIt should not be to hard to replace him.
Report Post »starman70
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:53pmDid he gag during his gig?
Report Post »Kisha Majors
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:52pmlol
Report Post »Browncoat359
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:51pmWeird,I guess? Kinda funny but VERY ironic.
Report Post »CJJAKENS
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:47pmhahaahaha The look on his face when it cuts back to him is priceless…
Report Post »lainab
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:47pmI didn’t see anything wrong! Maybe a bit disrespectful to the news item, but doesn’t warrant anything more than a slap on the hand…
Report Post »Conservative Grinch
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:43pmIs this the news or is this a gag?
Report Post »Independent Tess
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:42pmPrank gone horribly wrong.
Report Post »shotgun
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:42pmWhy would they fire him over that?????? They must be liberals. They should pass some liberal laws banning such activities. Being that liberals can pass a law for everything.
Report Post »firstHat
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 4:33pmI’m not sure what is the norm these days, but I do dimly recall back in the 60‘s and 70’s showing someone drinking on TV was absolutely not allowed even here in the U.S. Even in liquor ads and on sit coms folks were not allowed to actually drink what was in a glass that was supposed to contain alcohol. Making it clear that someone actually drank stuff without actually showing it was something of an art form.
Report Post »klstj
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 4:42pmI’m with you, fired doesn’t seem reasonable. They drink wine during food segments on the today show all the time. They’ve even had beer tasting segments. I would say hoax or publicity stunt if it weren’t for the look on his face. I don’t think you could fake that amount of …oops I’m caught.
Report Post »snowleopard3200
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:41pmMay have been meant as a prank, but now he will have to take the responsibility for it happening on the air waves. Let it be a notice to everyone world wide; we have to take responsibility for our own actions and deeds – good, bad, or clueless, they are our own accountability.
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (mixed art)
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:35pmThank goodness he was fired. What a horrible thing he has done.
Report Post »Greyhound424
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:41pmIt was funny……………………….. kind of.
Report Post »walkwithme1966
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:45pmPerhaps Faux News has a place for him or….perhaps Glenn can use him!! http://wp.me/pYLB7-dX
Border Fox
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 4:48pmLooks to me like he was trying to make a joke… Doesn’t deserve to be fired for that.
Report Post »Mike777
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:39pmWOW again maybe MSLSD has a spot for him.
Report Post »snowleopard3200
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:54pmOffer him a job on SNL. Him going to MSNBC would be a waste on trying to improve the ratings of their shows.
http://www.artinphoenix.com/gallery/grimm (mixed art)
Danglinbags
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 1:59pmYa, he is seksie enuf fo sho. Mmm, I’d like to make a triple decker club sandwich with him, Olbermann, and Schultz.
TheyTookOurJOBS
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:01pmI dont understand the problem. they probably couldve got some advertising money from the beer company. maybe he got fired for drinking the wrong beer, he mightve pissed off some sponsors.
Report Post »pajamash
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 2:53pmReprimand = Yes.
Firing = I’m not so sure in this case.
The bottle only had a few drops of liquid in it and it wasn’t even up to his lips. The remaining little bit of liquid that was in the bottle dribbled on him.
Report Post »Robert W
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 4:12pmThis is another example of narcissism running rampant in our society. Do anything to get attention even if it hurts yourself or others. Sad
Report Post »VETERANS-GAMING
Posted on October 14, 2010 at 10:04pmNow that’s what I call being true to yourself.
Report Post »solarflare
Posted on October 15, 2010 at 7:24pmThe actual problem with this joke was that everything is heavily regulated here in Finland. It might be seen as a kind of criminal act to show alcohol products in this manner on a state run news program, on the tax payer funded channel. The style of Kimmo Wilska presents a caricature of a typical finnish green male, not a typical finnish news anchor. Also, what has now also happened, that the finnish broadcasting company has started to censor these clips succesfully from YouTube. They’re in fact suppressing the freedom of speech defined thru their copyright ownership of the particular clip.
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