A.J. Clemente: North Dakota Anchor Fired After Saying "F*cking Sh*t" During First Broadcast

Impact

A rookie news man made his debut this week as an anchor for Bismarck, North Dakota NBC affiliate KFYRTV channel. To say that it did not go as planned would be an understatement.

As if things couldn't get worse for A.J. "Fuckin' Shit" Clemente, it seemed as if he prefaced his profanity with the usage of "gay" in an exasperated, derogatory tone. However, this was simply not the case.

KFYRTV could have responded in two ways — punish him for his rookie mistake, or share a sympathetic chuckle with him and move on from what was clearly a nerve wracking first day.

KFYRTV felt no such camaraderie with the green anchor, as the news channel opened their 10 p.m. newscast with apologies — but without A.J.

"Many of you wrote in after an incident ... when one of our employees used profanity on air. We were caught off guard ... And while that was no excuse — we do train our reporters to always assume that any microphone is live at any time — unfortunately we cannot take back what was said."

Clearly, it was not A.J.'s intention to be immortalized as that guy who whispered "Fuckin' Shit" on a news cast. Instead of demonizing A.J. for his unspeakable act and making the situation way more dramatic than it had to be, KFYRTV should have invited him back to the 10 p.m. broadcast, let him apologize for his accident, and explain that his nerves got the best of him. Not only would that have excused the incident, it would have made the whole situation seem much more endearing.

KFYRTV wasn't feeling very forgiving — A.J. announced via Twitter his dismissal. 

 

However, his sincerity and class in the aftermath is undeniable. 

That may not have been the most graceful career move, but it has caught the attention of many media outlets, with reps from Deadspin to Australian radio shows tweeting him asking for an interview. 

What happened to A.J. "Fuckin' Shit" Clemente is unfortunate, but he will surely bounce right back. After all, even in the face of hardship and adversity, he shows some serious entrepreneurial perseverance: