Director Michael Bay's onstage meltdown steals the show at Samsung CES press event

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
While Samsung was hoping to drum up hype for its latest curved television sets, plans to have blockbuster director Michael Bay promote its products backfired when the "Transformers" filmmaker -- known for making movies with large explosions -- caused a scene of his own, abruptly walking offstage mid-presentation.

Michael Bay
Director Michael Bay abruptly walked off Samsung's stage on Monday. Photo via ABC News.


Bay was hired by Samsung to help promote its new lineup of high-definition television sets for 2014. The director took to the stage Monday at a Samsung press event and began talking about his job as a director before technical issues marred the presentation.

Clearly flustered by the lack of a working teleprompter, Bay first attempted to improvise his onstage dialogue with Joe Stinziano, executive vice president of Samsung America.

"The type is all off, sorry, but I'll just wing this," Bay first said after the teleprompter began to fail.



The director then tried to continue but appeared at a loss for words. Stinziano attempted to get Bay back on subject by asking him what he thought of the new, massive 105-inch curved television set behind him.

"Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry," Bay said as he abruptly walked off the CES stage in Las Vegas.

"OK, ladies and gentlemen, let's thank Michael Bay for joining us," Stinziano said after Bay trotted off. Left alone onstage, the Samsung executive said: "Welcome to Vegas. It's a live show, folks."

Bay, an action-oriented director who has helmed three "Transformers" movies and other blockbusters like "The Rock," "Bad Boys" and "Armageddon," later took to his official website to express embarrassment over the incident, which managed to gain more publicity than Samsung's products themselves.

"Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES --?I was about to speak for Samsung for this awesome Curved 105-inch UHD TV," the post to Bay's website reads. "I rarely lend my name to any products, but this one is just stellar. I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP's intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down --?then I walked off. I guess live shows aren't my thing."

Though Bay's onstage appearance proved to be a failure, the director said he's still going to be promoting Samsung's new curved television sets in an around-the-world tour. The ultra-high-definition TVs that will be put on display will feature footage from Bay's upcoming film "Transformers 4."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 137
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Not sure which association is more toxic, Samsung being associated with tasteless, thuggish, leering scumbag Michael Bay, or Michael Bay being associated with tasteless, thuggish, leering scumbags Samsung.

    I guess it's a pretty good pairing.
  • Reply 2 of 137

    I think 2014 will be the year of Samsung Meltdown.

  • Reply 3 of 137
    jungmarkjungmark Posts: 6,926member
    Oh gosh! So basically this Sammy unit will be loud, over the top, and serves no purpose.
  • Reply 4 of 137
    In other news... Apple?!?!?? What is this, Samsung insider?
  • Reply 5 of 137

    Why'd it take AI so long to get an article up on this?  There were real news sources posting video and articles 14 hours ago.  I thought AI must be listening to comments from people on other Sammy focused articles about how this has nothing to do with Apple and shouldn't be on the site (not that I agree with that sentiment).

  • Reply 6 of 137
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    Michael Bay Insider

    The Baysider
  • Reply 7 of 137

    Agreed - not sure how Apple-related this is.

  • Reply 8 of 137
    So... this all worked out even better than anyone at Samsung had ever hoped.

    How many people would have even heard about this presentation unless Bay walked out.

    ... but, Transformers, really...
  • Reply 9 of 137
    The guy wasn't on his game for public speaking. The end.

    People want to see the next train wreck so often that I think we sometimes blow things out of proportion. This didn't look like a "meltdown" to me. Just someone who was out of words with a prompter that yes, he messed up. Then got annoyed and embarrassed and walked off stage. I think the word meltdown is a little strong.
  • Reply 10 of 137
    revenantrevenant Posts: 621member

    so this is on appleinsider because samsung hired him?

     

    it was about a telly promotion, not an area apple is directly in...

     

    can we stick with apple related things?

  • Reply 11 of 137
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by HyteProsector View Post



    The guy wasn't on his game for public speaking. The end.



    People want to see the next train wreck so often that I think we sometimes blow things out of proportion. This didn't look like a "meltdown" to me. Just someone who was out of words with a prompter that yes, he messed up. Then got annoyed and embarrassed and walked off stage. I think the word meltdown is a little strong.

    Agreed. But can't people talk extemporaneously anymore? I watched this and I was embarrassed for the guy. The Samsung guy tried to hold it together with a few softball questions. But to no avail. Too bad. I wouldn't wish this experience on anybody.

     

    I guess this is why SJ would start practicing a week before a Keynote.

     

    On a side note, I watched the presentation SJ did when he flew back early from his Hawaii family vacation b/c of the iphone 4's antenna problem. On short notice, he was brilliant! :)

  • Reply 12 of 137
    thebestman wrote: »
    Agreed - not sure how Apple-related this is.
    .
    Can you guys quit crying. It is apple related cause it's their main competitor. Is it a good article? No. But a little news here and there about the largest rival of apple at one of the largest shows of new tech is worthy of this site. Get over it
  • Reply 13 of 137
    wurm5150wurm5150 Posts: 763member
    It's CES..it won't be one if there wasn't any weird and bizarre happenings. This year is no different.
  • Reply 14 of 137
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    crowley wrote: »
    Not sure which association is more toxic, Samsung being associated with tasteless, thuggish, leering scumbag Michael Bay, or Michael Bay being associated with tasteless, thuggish, leering scumbags Samsung.

    I guess it's a pretty good pairing.

    Overly large machines that have no substance? Sounds like a good fit to me. :p
  • Reply 15 of 137
    c4rlobc4rlob Posts: 277member
    I think the Samsung executive Stinziano is just as much at fault! It's his company, his product's presentation, and the fact that all he could do was throw questions at Bay instead of stall a little longer to give Bay time to adjust shows his lack of skills as well. When you're co-star goes blank, you vamp to give them time to catch their breath - not just keep throwing questions at them.
  • Reply 16 of 137
    I can see how AI is justifying writing up this article. AI is simply exposing Apple followers (us) to the humiliating onstage incident Samsung went through at CES due to the unacceptable failure of their teleprompter and the lack of improvisation skills Michael Bay has. This is just the typical "naa nanana naaaa, you messed up!"
  • Reply 17 of 137
    solipsismxsolipsismx Posts: 19,566member
    My favourite South Park scene…


    [LIST]
    [*] http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/155700/those-arent-ideas-theyre-special-fx (Adobe Flash required)
    [/LIST]
  • Reply 18 of 137
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by HyteProsector View Post



    The guy wasn't on his game for public speaking. The end.



    People want to see the next train wreck so often that I think we sometimes blow things out of proportion. This didn't look like a "meltdown" to me. Just someone who was out of words with a prompter that yes, he messed up. Then got annoyed and embarrassed and walked off stage. I think the word meltdown is a little strong.

     

    This. My wife is a fantastically bright person but just is awful at public presentations and likely the reason she's not further along for what she does. There's a reason Bay stays behind the camera not in front of it. Sure it reflects poorly on Samsung which is always a fun poke, but to laugh at the guy for being embarrassed in the moment he knew full well was awkward is pretty poor taste and childish. 

  • Reply 19 of 137
    bloggerblogbloggerblog Posts: 2,462member

    Samsung, never had a presentation that went smoothly. However besides that, can't this guy just explain in his own words what he does? How hard can that be?

  • Reply 20 of 137
    andysolandysol Posts: 2,506member
    That was awesome! Haha

    That 105" TV is impressive. Not sure if I like the curve (would have to see in person) , but that's a big freakin Tv.
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