Update (Feb. 22): Serene Branson w/ Jean Luc Picard
About
Serene Branson is a reporter for CBS Los Angeles who may have experienced a form of paraphasia during her live report at the 53rd Grammy Awards in February 2011. The on-air incident, which shows Branson fumbling over her lines for nearly 20 seconds, received quite a bit of media attention, particularly from news blogs and on YouTube with massive uploads of the original newsclip and remixes in the following days.
Origin
On February 13th, 2011, Emmy-awards winning KCBS reporter Serene Branson was doing a recap report on the highlights of the 53rd Grammy Awards, when she suddenly began garbling her words in inaudible manner. According to Branson’s statement released in the following days, she had been feeling ill in the minutes prior to doing her report and following the incident, she was immediately examined by paramedics and sent home with a friend.
Spread
Google Insights comparison of keyword interest reveals that search queries for “Serene Branson” stood on par with a number of Grammy-winning guests like The Arcade Fire, Cee Lo, Lady Antebellum, as well as actress Gwyneth Paltrow in her cameo appearance of “Forget You” live performance:
Online Speculations
Immediately after the incident, various speculations as to the cause of her fumble began to circulate on Twitter, many assuming she had a bad case of nerves and others suspecting she suffered a stroke. The rumors of Branson’s ill-health were further exposed through several misinformed news reports, including The Telegraph. In response to the speculations, CBS Los Angeles released a statement on the following Monday proving such reports to be incorrect:
As many of you know CBS2 reporter Serene Branson experienced some health-related problems last night during our post-Grammys newscast. She was examined by paramedics on scene immediately after her broadcast. Her vital signs were normal. She was not hospitalized.
Branson’s Twitter Response
Via the @SereneBranson Twitter feed:
Media Coverage
On February 15th, NBC Today aired a news report saying it is quite likely Serene Branson suffered either a “mild stroke” or a “neurological episode” during her post-Grammys news report, according to NBC News’ chief medical editor Nancy Snyderman.
On February 19th, Branson appeared on CBS’ The Early Show Saturday Edition with Rebecca Jarvis explaining it was a result of complex migraine, rather than a stroke.