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Report: NBC Unlikely To Face Any Financial Fallout From VINCE NEIL's F-Bomb

January 3, 2005

Variety.com is reporting that viewers watching Friday night's live edition of "The Tonight Show" on NBC probably did a double-take when, just after the clock stuck midnight, MÖTLEY CRÜE singer Vince Neil turned to his bandmate, drummer Tommy Lee, and said, "Happy fucking New Year, Tommy!" Because Jay Leno has aired a live New Year's edition for many years without problems, Peacock execs apparently decided against using a five-second delay on the broadcast.

Because "Tonight" airs after 10 p.m. — and thus outside the FCC's so-called safe harbor in which indecent programming is forbidden — it seems unlikely NBC will face any financial fallout from the slip-up. Still, given that many kids get to stay up late on New Year's, some parents might have been taken aback — though unlike the Super Bowl fiasco, Neil's use of profanity seems to have gone unnoticed by activist groups.

NBC edited out the offending word for West Coast viewers.

"The network has not received any calls regarding the incident," an NBC official, who asked not to be identified, said Monday, according to the Associated Press.

U2 lead singer Bono used the F-word at last year's Golden Globe Awards, which was also broadcast live by NBC. The network has said it will put this year's broadcast on a 10-second delay.

The Federal Communications Commission, in a ruling issued last March, said the word should never be used on over-the-air radio or television programs. FCC officials said at the time they had received hundreds of complaints from Golden Globes viewers.

Networks have been more cautious about material they air after singer Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance last year

Jackson was near the end of a Feb. 1 halftime duet with Justin Timberlake when Timberlake snatched off part of her bustier on stage, revealing one of her breasts, which was covered with only a sun-shaped "nipple shield." Those involved blamed the exposure on a "wardrobe malfunction."

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