LAS VEGAS — Samsung just packed a whole lot of content into its hour-long press event this afternoon at CES 2014, as the tech giant discussed everything from curved TVs to a connected home.
But what I heard most people talking about in the walkways of Mandalay Bay afterward was not the new tablets nor the fancy ovens — rather, it was all about Michael Bay.
Samsung brought the well-known movie director on stage to talk about how he creates movies and was likely going to discuss the company’s new curved HDTVs from a visual standpoint. But just as Bay began speaking, he abruptly stopped.
“The type is all off, sorry, but I’ll just wing this,” Bay said, referring to the teleprompters in the back of the room.
Bay then tried to do without his notes with help from a quick-thinking and supportive Joe Stinziano, EVP of Samsung America. But Bay instead turned around and walked off stage.
It was a bizarre scene, and it was unclear as to whether this was staged until I looked back at the teleprompter, which was quickly scrolling through lines and lines of Bay’s prepared remarks as Stinziano kept his cool.
“Welcome to Vegas,” he told the crowd shortly afterward. “It’s live shows, folks.”
It was tough to watch and unfortunate for Bay, who just wrote about the experience on his website:
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.
But I’m doing a special curved screen experience with Samsung and Transformers 4 footage that will be traveling around the world.
Other famous celebrities making an appearance on Monday was Dallas Mavericks owner and successful entrepreneur Mark Cuban, who spoke about sports in UHD. Michelin-starred chefs Michel Troisgros and Christopher Kostow also came on stage to talk about how they helped Samsung with the company’s innovations in the kitchen.
Watch Bay’s meltdown here, which starts at the 57-minute mark:
