UPDATE: The episode will air! Details soon.
Two of the coolest guys in the world, Sir Richard Branson and Stephen Colbert, apparently poured water on each other's heads in an unfriendly manner during a television segment taping that will likely never air.
BoingBoing reader George W. says,
Ian Bogost appeared on the Colbert Report on Tuesday, August 7 to discuss his [book and website] Persuasive Games. He mentions in his post, paragraph 7, that there was a segment filmed with another guest that went not exactly as expected. This guest was Richard Branson, presumably on to discuss one of his Virgin America planes being named in honor Stephen, the "Air Colbert." [Editors's note: Hey, I saw this plane chillin' on the SFO tarmac on on August 8! So cool.]
Apparently Branson got upset he wasn't able to advertise as much, and poured his mug of water on Stephen.
Here is a recount from a member of the studio audience that night. He posted this comment on a Stephen Colbert fan site under the name Rocktimus Prime (Link):
"I haven’t posted a recap anywhere else, but I’ll spill it here first. Branson was apparently upset that he wasn’t able to give a direct plug to the new Virgin service and doused Colbert with his guest mug of water. Stephen was DRENCHED. He took a beat, then signalled for his own “ammunition” for about twenty seconds until Alison (Silverman) ran and gave him her bottle of water, and Stephen retaliated. The two of them sat for a VERY uncomfortable second looking like two wet cats. Then Stephen thanked him for coming. I really don’t think it was planned, since Stephen had another bit to introduce (the American Samoa Better Know a Protectorate) and a full interview left to do. They had to get him a new jacket and even broke out a blowdryer. Everyone in the crew had a “WTF?” reaction."
Also of note, during the interview with Ian Bogost, there is a visible crushed poland spring water bottle sitting on the mantle. After approximately 1 minute the cameraman on Bogost adjusted to a different odd angle so the bottle was out of shot. There is a screenshot of Bogost with the bottle behind him in his blog posting, the first link.
I realize since this segment hasn't aired, and may never air, it might not something you would all normally post, but it is a very interesting turn of events.
Link to Bogost's blog post.
And in shameless self-promotion news, hey look everyone! Colbert cited this BoingBoing post in last night's show, during a bit about Harry Potter and piracy! Here it is: Video Link ah, YouTube's pulled it, bummer. Can't find it on comedycentral.com. #%&*$^%*. (Thanks, Patricio López)
Previously on BoingBoing:
Reader comment: Ben Slater says,
weirdly enough this isn't the first time Branson has poured water over a talk-show host, about ten years ago he did the same thing to Clive Anderson on Channel 4 in the UK, when Anderson was mocking him on the bad rep of Virgin Airlines… Anderson's quick response was something like – "So this is what the service is like on your planes"… can't find that on youtube sadly.
