How not to do public speaking: Transformers director Michael Bay walks off stage after teleprompter 'glitch' at Samsung event

 
Blunder: Michael Bay
Getty
Staff|Agency7 January 2014

Transformers director Michael Bay has admitted he is "embarrassed" after walking off stage in the middle of a high-profile press conference for Samsung televisions.

The Hollywood producer blamed the incident on an autocue malfunction which left him stumbling over his lines while unveiling the South Korean brand's new 105 inch curved TVs.

Before the incident, Bay told the press conference: "My job as a director means I get to dream for a living. I create visual worlds that are so beyond everyone's life experiences. Hollywood is a place that creates viewer escape."

After several long pauses he then revealed the autocue was out of sync, adding: "I will just wing this." He briefly attempted to talk about the televisions without the aid of the prompter but seconds later apologised and walked off stage.

Blunder: Michael Bay (Picture: Getty)
Getty

Joe Stinziano, senior vice president of Samsung Electronics, continued the presentation saying: "Welcome to Vegas, it's a live show folks."

Bay, who describes himself as "one of Hollywood’s boldest and most bankable feature film directors", later published a blog post explaining the gaffe, saying live shows just "aren't [his] thing".

He wrote: "Wow! I just embarrassed myself at CES – I was about to speak for Samsung for this awesome Curved 105-inch UHD TV. I rarely lend my name to any products, but this one is just stellar.

"I got so excited to talk, that I skipped over the Exec VP’s intro line and then the teleprompter got lost. Then the prompter went up and down – then I walked off. I guess live shows aren’t my thing."

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