Celebrity Flubs! Biggest Mistakes on Live TV: Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscars Fall, Ashlee Simpson’s Lip Syncing and More

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Celebrity Flubs! Biggest Mistakes on Live TV: Jennifer Lawrence’s Oscars Fall, Ashlee Simpson’s Lip Syncing and More

There’s nothing like live television! Celebrities such as Jennifer Lawrence and Ashlee Simpson have learned the hard way that live TV mistakes are hard to live down. In February 2013, Lawrence momentarily silenced the crowd at the Oscars when she took a tumble on the stage stairs. While trying to accept her Academy Award for Best Actress that night, the Hunger Games star face planted in her pink gown. While she got back up and accepted the night’s top honor, she still thinks about the awards show fail. Seven years after her tumble went viral, Lawrence reflected on the moment during an October 2021 appearance on Dear Media’s “Absolutely Not with Heather McMahan” podcast. She recalled feeling “nervous” and “very superstitious” before taking home the golden statue for her role in 2012’s Silver Linings Playbook. “I was very, very nervous but I was ready. All of the adrenaline clears out and they call my name and I’m elated and I’m in shock,” the Winter’s Bone actress said at the time. “And then I fell, and it erased everything from my mind. My full brain went blank.” [jwplayer Ap5Klkeo-zhNYySv2] It took some time, but Lawrence revealed that she now looks back at the spill “fondly,” confessing that “for a very long time, the fall thing was very sensitive.” The Don’t Look Up actress further recalled the moment that Anderson Cooper claimed she had “obviously faked the fall,” which was untrue. “It was so devastating because it was this horrific humiliation to me,” she explained. “I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance to give a speech like that again, so it didn’t feel good for me not to have a speech.” Cooper has since apologized for his allegations, with Lawrence saying, “I think we’re good friends now. On my end, we’re all good.” Simpson, for her part, experienced her live TV blunder in 2004 when she was caught lip-syncing on Saturday Night Live. “I feel so bad, my band started playing the wrong song,” the Ashlee + Evan alum said at the time after her song “Pieces of Me” began playing and she failed to sing along. “I didn’t know what to do so I thought I’d do a hoedown. I’m sorry, live TV!” Scroll down to relive some of the biggest celebrity flubs that happened on live TV:

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Troy Kotsur

During the 2023 BAFTA Film Awards, there was a mix up when revealing the winner for the Supporting Actress category. While Kotsur announced Kerry Condon as the winner in ASL, his interpreter — who provided the voiceover —said Carey Mulligan’s name by accident. The CODA actor and his on-stage interpreter noted the mistake at the February awards show before the She Said actress got out of her seat.

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Jamie Foxx

The Oscar winner flubbed one of his lines on ABC’s All in the Family special Live in Front of a Studio Audience in May 2019, making his costars Anthony Anderson, Ike Barinholtz, Ellie Kemper and Woody Harrelson burst into laughter. Foxx, who played George Jefferson, was supposed to say, “Ever since I was a little boy, I would always beg my mother for a little brother. But, you know, we were broke, so all we could afford was you.” However, he began stuttering toward the end of the line and announced, “It’s live! Everyone sitting at home just think their TV just messed up.”

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Warren Beatty

The actor and Faye Dunaway mistakenly announced La La Land as the Best Picture winner over Moonlight at the 2017 Academy Awards. In photos, it appeared the actor was holding an envelope that read “Actress in a Leading Role” — an award that went to La La Land's Emma Stone just moments before — which caused the confusion.

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Kendall Jenner

Someone had Harry Styles on the brain! After briefly dating the One Direction alum earlier in the year, Jenner had a major flub at the 2014 Billboard Music Awards. While introducing the band 5 Seconds of Summer, she started to call them "One…" before breaking into hysterical laughter.

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Iggy Azalea

She topped the charts with hits "Fancy" and "Problem," but the Aussie rapper had a major screw up on the live finale of Dancing With the Stars in May 2014. As she descended the stairs singing "Fancy," she stopped, declaring, "I'm so sorry, but there's something wrong with my earphone!" Azalea still finished her performance like a pro, later apologizing to fans on Twitter, writing, "I am so sorry guys! My in ears messed up and I couldn’t hear the track. The dramas of live TV."

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John Travolta

It was the flub heard (and mocked) around the world. Travolta had a major misstep at the 2014 Oscars while presenting Frozen star and Broadway legend Idina Menzel. "Please welcome the wickedly talented, one and only Adele Dazeem," he said while reading the teleprompter.

Travolta later apologized numerous times, telling Us Weekly, "I've been beating myself up all day! Then I thought...What would Idina Menzel say? She'd say, 'Let it go, let it go!'"

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Miss Utah Marissa Powell

During the 2013 Miss USA pageant, Miss Utah Powell suffered a stumble during the interview portion, telling host Giuliana Rancic, "I think, especially the men are ... um ... seen as the leaders of this, and so we need to see how to … create education better. So that we can solve this problem. Thank you." Not surprisingly, Powell didn't win, with Miss Connecticut Erin Brady taking home the crown.  

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Jennifer Lawrence

The Silver Linings Playbook actress made quite the entrance when she took the stage to accept the 2013 Academy Award for Best Actress. While approaching the stairs during the February awards show, Lawrence took a spill and fell on the steps inside the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles.

The Kentucky native received a standing ovation as she popped up and made it to the podium. “You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell — it’s really embarrassing,” she said at the time. “This is nuts!”

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Salma Hayek and Paul Rudd

At the 2013 Golden Globes, presenters Hayek and Rudd suffered technical difficulties and weren't able to present the award for Best TV Drama. The Friends alum then attempted to awkwardly fill the silence. 

"Hello," the This Is 40 star started. "How's everybody doing? Good? All right, great." Hayek tried to pick up the pieces with, "Okay, something about the best, uh…" before the nominees' clips began to roll on-screen, complete with pre-recorded voiceover.

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Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina

American Idol season 10 winner McCreery and runner-up Alaina both messed up their performances on Thanksgiving in 2011. McCreery was caught lip-syncing before he quit singing entirely at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and Alaina forgot the lyrics to the "National Anthem" at the Detroit Lions/Green Bay Packers game.

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Brooke Shields

Though she performed in the Broadway musical The Addams Family, Shields crumbled under pressure at the 2011 Tony Awards when host Neil Patrick Harris brought her a mic to sing part of the opening number. After attempting her verse several times she finally exclaimed, "I don't know what I'm doing! Oh my God!"

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Christina Aguilera

Even Grammy winners make mistakes! While singing the "National Anthem" at Super Bowl XLV in February 2011's, Aguilera accidentally sang the incorrect lyrics "what so proudly we watched" instead of "o'er the ramparts we watched." Xtina didn't miss a beat, finishing off the tune for the roaring crowd. 

"I took in the moment a little bit too much," Aguilera told Ellen DeGeneres of the flub. "Shoot me for appreciating the moment."

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Ashlee Simpson

Saturday Night Taped? In October 2004, Simpson had one of the biggest goofs in live TV history when a pre-recorded track of her song "Pieces of Me" began playing, and she failed to sing along while on Saturday Night Live. She then did an awkward jig on stage and later blamed her band during the closing credits. 

"I feel so bad, my band started playing the wrong song. I didn't know what to do so I thought I'd do a hoe-down. I'm sorry, live TV!" she exclaimed.

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Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake

The musicians turned heads in February 2004 when Timberlake exposed Jackson’s breast during their Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime performance. During the event, the former ‘NSync singer ripped part of Jackson’s costume, exposing her in front of more than 150 million viewers.

The scandal haunted both artists for decades. Timberlake issued a public apology to Jackson and his ex-girlfriend Britney Spears in February 2021 after the release of “Framing Britney Spears,” which exposed toxic masculinity in the ‘90s and early 2000s.

“I am deeply sorry for the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem, where I spoke out of turn, or did not speak up for what was right,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism."

In November 2021, the Super Bowl incident was further investigated during an episode of FX’s The New York Times Presents “Malfunction: The Dressing Down of Janet Jackson.” The “Miss You Much” songstress opened up about the show mishap in January 2022 during a documentary interview for Lifetime.

"Honestly, this whole thing was blown way out of proportion," Jackson said at the time. "And, of course, it was an accident that should not have happened, but everyone is looking for someone to blame and that's gotta stop. Justin and I are very good friends and we will always be very good friends."