Key Points
Rachel Menitoff, a reporter for Los Angeles-based news station KTLA, was visited by a flying cockroach during a live report on Tuesday.
Footage of the moment shows Menitoff acting as if nothing is happening as the bug crawls on her.
She later explained on social media that keeping calm had been difficult.
Would you rather be dealing with a heat wave outside or a cockroach crawling around on you?
Rachel Menitoff, a correspondent for Los Angeles-based KTLA, encountered both on Tuesday during a report on the weather’s effect on the area. Somehow, she managed to handle the moment when a cockroach landed on the front of her dress, crawled up her neck, and then down to the microphone that she was holding without moving. At all.
She didn’t even look down!
But afterward, Menitoff reacted like most people would, brushing off her arms to make sure the bug had left and even shivering. She shared the footage on Instagram and jokingly captioned it, “Trying to steal my thunder,” alongside a bug emoji.
The news station later reported on the incident, with Menitoff’s colleagues congratulating her on her ability to stay cool.
An anchor speculated that Menitoff might not have known exactly what it was, although she had probably felt something.
The reporter herself confirmed to the station that this had been the case.
“I knew it was on me,” Menitoff said. “But I knew if I took notice of it, I wouldn’t be able to continue on with the report. So I said to myself, just get through this moment and then kind of shake it off.”
Rachel Menitoff reports for KTLA
Credit: Rachel Menitoff/Instagram
She noted that the viral moment had supported her message.
“Ironically, the story was about the extreme heat in the Valley, and these cockroaches are attracted to the heat and the warm temperatures and our camera lights,” Menitoff said. “So, it was sort of the perfect environment for the roaches.”
Also, she noted in a reply to someone giving her “major props” for staying calm that pretending nothing was happening “was NOT easy.”
Former The Hills villain Spencer Pratt, who lost his bid for Los Angeles mayor earlier this month, made sure to weigh in. He claimed on X that the moment happened because of the candidate who beat him to the mayoral runoff, Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, calling it an example of the bad conditions in her district.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
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