The Today Show has been forced to apologise after mistakenly referring to legendary musician Bob Dylan as being deceased.
The popular talk show had been delivering a segment on Sunday morning about the recent auctioning of Dylan’s memorabilia at Boston, in the United States.
The treasured cache was snapped up for $495,000 on Thursday and included unpublished song lyrics and interviews from 1971 that revealed hit song ‘Lay Lady Lay’ was inspired by Barbara Streisand.
Today Show had been airing a montage of clips of Dylan when it referred to him as a ‘late singer’ at the bottom of the screen implying he had passed away.
‘Bob Dylan Letters,’ the caption read. ‘Late singer’s documents sell for $495 thousand.’
The faux pas went undetected for half-an-hour before host Richard ‘Dickie’ Wilkins apologised.
The Today Show has been forced to apologise after mistakenly telling viewers music legend Bob Dylan had passed away (pictured, host Richard Wilkins apologised for the blunder half-an-hour later)
Today Show had been airing a montage of clips of Dylan when it included a blunder in its caption (pictured, the caption refers to Bob Dylan as a ‘late singer’ implying he had passed away)
‘We need to make a correction. About half an hour ago, in the entertainment chat we incorrectly ran a banner on your screen about Bob Dylan. It was false. We apologise for any confusion.’
This is not the first time the Today Show has mistakenly declared the death of a celebrity.
Wilkins was left red-faced in 2009 after reporting Hollywood A-lister Jeff Goldblum had passed away after a freak accident while filming a movie in New Zealand.
‘All I have is in front of me a report saying the New Zealand police are saying Jeff Goldblum fell from a cliff to his death while filming in New Zealand,’ he said.
‘I’m not sure where, I haven’t had a chance to check it out.
‘Hollywood actor and all round nice guy, everyone who comes into contact with Jeff Goldblum always says what a good bloke he has been in.’
The talk show played a moving montage of Goldblum highlighting his highest achievements in the film industry.
It did not take long for the producers to realise the rumours were baseless.
Pop-star Michael Jackson had passed away on the same day and trolls had spread rumours that Goldblum had died as well.
Dylan’s treasured cache was snapped up for $495,000 and included unpublished song lyrics and interviews from 1971 that revealed hit song ‘Lay Lady Lay’ was inspired by Barbara Streisand
Wilkins was left red-faced in 2009 after reporting Hollywood A-lister Jeff Goldblum had passed away after a freak accident while filming a movie in New Zealand
Host Karl Stefanovic quickly apologised for the massive blunder.
‘We just heard via Twitter that Jeff Goldblum’s death was announced as a hoax in an attempt to drive internet traffic to their site,’ he said.
Wilkins interviewed Goldblum seven years later where the two laughed off the blunder.
Wilkins began: ‘Sir, it’s great to have you in the country, lovely to see you back on your feet,’ before adding: ‘Er, sorry about that!
Goldblum replied: ‘Think nothing of it, totally understandable. Could happen to the best of them – which you are.’
Wilkins interviewed Goldblum seven years later where the two laughed off the blunder
Source: Daily Mail AU
