MSNBC’s Craig Melvin kept his composure and stuck to his report as he was heckled on the air outside the hospital where golf star Tiger Woods is recovering from a serious car accident.
Melvin was broadcasting live outside Harvard-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, Calif., to give the latest on the condition of Woods. As Melvin spoke, a man could be heard off-camera constantly yelling derogatory things about Woods, such as that he would die and go to hell.
The interruptions continued throughout Melvin’s report for several minutes until MSNBC cut away to a prerecorded interview.
When the camera cut back to Melvin, he briefly addressed the heckling, saying “apologies to viewers and listeners on Sirius satellite radio. There is a protester here on the sidewalk. You probably hear that in the background.”
Melvin then introduced former ESPN star Jemele Hill, who complimented Melvin on not losing his cool.
“First of all, Craig, as a fellow broadcaster let me just say right now you deserve a lot of props, because many of us may not have been able to deliver what you’ve just delivered as smoothly and artfully with the background noise,” she said. “So shout out to you Craig, you’re a professional.”
At the end of the segment, Hill complimented Melvin a second time for doing his job and not being distracted as both laughed.
Melvin then joked he had wanted to reply to the insults from the man, but that he also valued his job.
“I wanted to respond, but I need this job,” Melvin said, smiling.