5 Shocking Moments in Latino Talk Show History
Some day, when television programming is composed solely of reality TV, I will give my grandchildren one of those long-winded, elderly person lectures about what it was like back in my day. Before Hoarders, the Kardashians, Honey Boo Boo, and the internet, we only had one place to find our tawdry, manipulated-behind-the-scenes human dramas: daytime talk shows. Back then, spending an afternoon in the world of paternity tests, secret sex changes, and inevitable physical altercations was a special treat – something you got to enjoy on a snow day, or a sick day or whatever situation caused you to be at home on a weekday at 3pm. In honor of those halcyon days of television programming, we bring you a trip down memory lane: 5 outrageous moments in Latino talk show history. In no particular order:
1.Geraldo Rivera Gets His Nose Broken In A Televised Brawl
Half-Boricua Geraldo Rivera is one of the OGs of trashy daytime TV. His syndicated show, which started back in 1987, had its fair share of dramatic moments (satanic rituals! men in lace panties and the women who love them!). While it shocked the public at first – and sent his ratings skyrocketing – eventually people began to catch on to the fact that some of these scandalous stories were not quite authentic, and perhaps just short of scripted. Which is why the brawl that broke out between white supremacists, skinheads, black activists, and Jewish activists in a 1988 episode didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary at first. But when Geraldo jumped in to break it up, things got real. After throwing a few punches himself, he ended up with a broken nose. You’d think that mustache would cushion the blow…alas, no one was spared in the race war. Make sure to keep an eye on grandma in the blue sweatshirt on the left. She wants NO part of these fisticuffs.
[insert-video youtube=S1KT1QoSCT8]
2. Cristina Saralegui Has Same-Sex Wedding Performed On Her Show
Cristina Saralegui is my girl – I used to watch her show pretty much religiously with my grandmother, and she’s probably one of my biggest mid-90s cultural touchstones. I even wrote a total fan girl post about her on my Tumblr back in the day, which you should check out if you want to learn some fun facts, like the fact that she was the first Latina to be inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame AND the first Spanish-language television personality to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1996 Cristina aired a highly controversial episode on gay weddings, during which two gay couples were married on air. It was a very shocking and ballsy move at a time when representations of gay life were pretty much completely excluded from mainstream media. Religious viewers, in particular, were not thrilled about it – thousands of whom came to protest the show. Cristina remained unfazed, because she was too busy becoming one of the most successful daytime TV hosts of all time and keeping her resplendently blonde hair fresh. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any footage of this episode on YouTube, so you’ll just have to enjoy this screenshot of a candid audience reaction during one of her shows. That look of happiness and delight says it all.
3. Dominican Talk Show Host Franklin Barazarte Lights Guest’s Head On Fire
This incident actually just took place last week, and may or may not have been the inspiration behind this post. In the video below, you can see TV Host Barazarte, who was serving as guest host on the astrology and variety show “Closer to the Stars,” abruptly throw a bunch of flaming liquid into Las Vegas-based magician Wayne Houchin’s face. The liquid, Aqua de Florida, is commonly used by Caribbean shamans “in healing and cleansing rituals,” and Barazarte claims the incident was an attempted “blessing” gone awry. Regardless of whether it was an accident, it seems like Barazarte may have a reputation for being out of line – in the last moments of the video you can hear filming crew member muttering “F*ck man, yo sabía que este señor iba a hacer una locura.”
[insert-video youtube=WQOeFC0d12k]
4. Jaime Bayly Complains On Air
The New Times Broward-Palm Beach 2011 feature on Jaime Bayly perhaps put it best: “It’s hard to overestimate the grasp Bayly has on the Peruvian psyche. Imagine a child of privilege like Bobby Kennedy Jr. but openly bisexual, prone to drug abuse, dying of mysterious liver problems, and intent on exposing all of his family’s darkest secrets. Now envision giving him free rein on TV every night.” Widely regarded as the most controversial talk show host in all of Latin-America, it’s hard to pick just one moment in Bayly’s outspoken and scandal-ridden career. We’ll settle for the video below, in which he goes on an on-air rant about the temperature in the studio, the management at Mega TV – the Miami channel that hosted his show for three-years – and eventually his salary. The complaints, which included comparing the station’s vice president to Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, led Bayly to quit (or perhaps be fired?) from the show in 2009.
[insert-video youtube=h1vUybGnyiA#t=04m55s]
5. Laura Bozzo’s Show Canceled After Scandal Exposing Illegal Use Of Minors
Not proud to say it, but Peru kind of has the whole “controversial talk show” thing on lock. Laura Bozzo – or as we like to call her in my family: “la vergüenza nacional” – is basically the Peruvian Jerry Springer. The various iterations of her show over the years all featured the usual sordid scandals (i.e. “my nanny is beating my child and also having an affair with my husband and p.s. she is underage”), but since it was one of the only (and highest rated) Peruvian shows to be broadcast outside of Peru, it kind of gave us a bad rep abroad. Interestingly enough, it was Jaime Bayly who helped bring the show to its demise, by exposing the fact that not only was Laura paying panelists to perform scripted lies, but that many of these panelists were minors. In a particularly appalling example, Laura allegedly paid a 7 year old girl to say her step father sexually abused her, and used the same girl on a different episode, where she was falsely presented as the victim of an earthquake that devastated the coast of Peru. C’MAN LAURA. Did you really think no one was gonna notice you were recycling guests? Not a good look. In fact, this whole compilation of Laura episodes below is not a good look:
[insert-video youtube=olBQojj4cLw]