Oops - Embarrasing Public Moments Quiz

Answer: David Niven

The actual statement from Niven was "Isn't it fascinating to think that probably the only laugh that man will ever get in his life is by stripping off his clothes and showing his shortcomings?"

David Niven (1910-1983) was originally a British officer, who turned to acting as a young man. He had a breakthrough role in "The Charge of the Light Brigade" and went on to starring roles in "The Bishop's Wife", "Around the World in 80 Days", and "The Pink Panther".

Some claim that the streaker incident was planned, and Niven had prepared his "ad lib" in advance, although that has never been proven. The streaker, Opel, would be murdered five years later during a break-in at his apartment.

Answer: Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence (1990- ) tripped while going to receive the 2013 Academy Award for her role in the film "Silver Linings Playbook" (2012). However, she recovered with aplomb, noting that "You guys are just standing up because you feel bad that I fell and that's really embarrassing." Next year at the Academy Awards she repeated her fall, although it occurred during the show preparation, outside of camera view.

Lawrence is probably best-known for her role as Katniss Everdeen in the "Hunger Games", a role that demands physical agility and skill. However, the Academy Award falls are reputedly not isolated incidents for her; and Lawrence finds them highly embarrassing.

Answer: Steve Harvey

Steve Harvey (1957-) is an American comedian and game show host. After a long struggle, Harvey achieved success in the television series "It's Showtime at the Apollo" and touring with the Kings of Comedy with other noted African American comedians. Later he has hosted television talk shows and is a long-time host of "The Family Feud".

In fairness to Harvey. similar award ceremony errors have occurred to other hosts. He was given envelopes that named the runner-ups and the winner; and he read them out of order. He was highly embarrassed by the error and apologized profusely to the actual winner, Miss Philippines. He was invited back to host next year's pageant, although the publicity the event received for the error may have helped that decision.

Answer: Justin Timberlake

The American Super Bowl game is usually the most-watched event in US television every year. Besides being the championship game in professional football, it has a long halftime musical extravaganza and highly entertaining TV commercials. Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake performed during the halftime show, when her breast became exposed to millions of viewers.

Many people believe that the incident was a planned publicity stunt by Timberlake and Jackson for career boosts and an attempted revenge against Timberlake's former girlfriend Britney Spears. The fact that Jackson was wearing a fancy "nipple guard" that Timberlake reportedly purchased gives credence to this being a deliberate act.

Answer: Roseanne Barr

Roseanne Barr (1952- ) is an American comedienne, who had a very successful run on the television show "Roseanne", which depicted her as a working class "domestic goddess". Her popularity has severely declined due to several egregious public incidents. These include accusations of racist tweets, posing as Hitler for a photo op, and forays into extremist politics.

Probably the first inkling of her problems occurred when she was asked to sing the US national anthem at a 1990 baseball game in San Diego. She screeched the words, grabbed here crotch area and spat. Some of Barr's problems could be traced to a serious car accident in her teens and her claims of supposed autism and multiple personality disorders.

Answer: Rock's joke about the hair loss of Smith's wife

Chris Rock is one of the most prominent comedians in the USA, an early star in the iconic "Saturday Night Live" television show and well-known hip hop musician. He has also hosted the Academy Awards. Will Smith is a prominent American actor, who starred on the television show "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1990-1996) and went on to feature roles in movies such as "Men in Black" (1997) and "Ali" (2001).

Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, is a Hollywood star in her own right. She had severe hair loss that she initially attributed to stress, but later discovered that she suffered from the autoimmune disease alopecia areata. As a consequence she had shaved her head.

When Rock made joke about Pinkett Smith's hair style, Smith ran onto the stage and slapped Rock. Many initially believed it was just a publicity stunt. Later during the ceremony Smith apologized to the public and to the Academy for his actions, and Rock chose not to press criminal assault charges. However, Smith was banned from attending the ceremony for ten years. The incident provided fodder for comedians for the next year.

Answer: Kanye West

Swift at the time of the incident was an up-and-coming 19 year singer and was shaken up by the incident. West had come onto the stage in the middle of Swift's acceptance speech and grabbed the microphone from her. In the ensuing years Swift and West have had several truces, but each have written songs that appear to be about the other that have reignited the feud.

Answer: Quit a 10K road race after nearly collapsing

During his term in office, Carter was an avid runner. He usually ran between 3 and 7 miles each day. He entered a 10 kilometer road race on a very hilly course, hoping to lower his time by 4 minutes. Around the 4 mile mark, he became pale and wobbly due to exhaustion and was forced to drop out to his embarrassment.

Jimmy Carter, along with Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, were US presidents who did not play golf. Plus it's hard to imagine Carter cheating at golf if he had played.

Carter served on a nuclear submarine with responsibilities for engineering and electronics repair. He hoped to eventually become commanding officer of a submarine, but retired from the Navy after his father died and he took over the family farm. No US submarines ran aground during this time and Carter didn't have command responsibility anyway. Although Carter grew peanuts at his farm before entering politics, the President's office takes pride in serving appropriate meals to guests.

Answer: Idina Menzel

Travolta announced Ida Menzel as Adele Dazeem before she was to sing the song "Let It Go" from the hugely-popular movie "Frozen". Menzel, although not well known at that time, had sung the songs in the movie. She said she was angry and disappointed at first when Travolta mispronounced her name, but had to recover her composure when the band started up seconds afterwards. (OK the "frosty and "icy" were made up to give hints to those unfamiliar with the incidents.) As a joke, Travolta and Menzel presented together at the next Academy Awards and she called him Giom Gazingo and he correctly called her Idina Menzel. So the incidents has a happy ending.

Answer: Japan

In January 1992 Bush had embarked on a twelve day tour of the Far East focused on economics and trade. On January 8th he had played and lost a doubles tennis match against the Emperor of Japan and his son. At a state dinner later that day Bush had fainted and vomited on the lap of Japan's Prime Minister Kiichi Miyazawa due to an attack of flu.

The incident was prime material for comedians in the US and Japan.