Viral Video Victim? Anchor Explains Why She Laughed During Murder Story
There’s a 2 year-old news clip circulating anew on the internet, thanks to the Huffington Post and FunnyorDie.com. The Funny or Die connection is especially unfortunate, given the clip’s subject matter. HuffPo Comedy’s post, entitled “News Anchor Can’t Stop Laughing While Describing A Gruesome Murder,” had little information on the clip that wasn’t included in the headline.
While the clip is darkly funny, it made me want to find out the story behind it.
If you just wanted to laugh at the funny news blooper, you can stop reading now.
You’ve got to sympathize with Hema Mullur, the anchor in the clip, who was obviously reacting to the sudden appearance of a comically wild-eyed photograph of the then-suspect. In the course of figuring out who she was, I learned that she’s currently with K-FOX 14, she’s a “word nerd,” wants to be a Supreme Court justice, and she can’t snap her fingers.
The suspect, Stephen Grant, later confessed to the February 9, 2007 murder and dismemberment of his wife, Tara Lynn Grant. He was one of these Scott Peterson types who commit a murder, then go on TV trying to “find the real killer.” He fled into the mountains when the police got on to him, but they tracked him down by tracing a cellphone call that he made to his sister. The crime was the subject of a Dateline NBC feature.
Tara Lynn Grant is memorialized online at TaraLynnGrant.com, where you can find out more about her life and her family, and can also donate to her kids’ trust fund, or to combat domestic violence. A perusal of the 315 pages of comments brings the weight of this tragedy into stark relief.
As if this story wasn’t already sad enough, the kids’ grandfather, William Allen Grant, shot and killed himself a little over a year later.
We talk a fair amount about curation on this site. As viral videos like this one continue to make the rounds, it’s easy for important details to get lost in the shuffle, and little ones, too.
Update – Hema Mullur sent us the following email:
Hello Tommy,
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to respond to this now “viral” video. It’s been making the rounds for more than a year now, and there are various theories and suppositions as to why the silly news anchor started laughing during a story about murder.
First and foremost, I’m sure you, and most reasonable people, understand it’s ludicrous to think anyone would laugh about a murder, particularly one as gruesome as Tara Lynn Grant’s. This incident happened when I was just out of college working at my first anchoring job in a small West Texas city. Despite popular belief, I do take the time to read every story I present on the air in advance, but I often do not preview the video. When this story came up, yes, the man’s face was shocking. I reacted to it in a subtle way, and was prepared to move on. My colleagues, however, those who run the studio cameras, the teleprompter, the audio, and more, did not move on – nor did I expect them to. They were all caught up in a raucous laughter over the man’s picture, and at that point with the little experience I had, I was unable to not start laughing along with them. Anyone who’s ever been in a similar situation can empathize; it’s hard not to laugh, even in the most awkward of situations, when everyone around you is losing it!
Many people have insinuated I was fired from my job for this, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. When my boss came in to work, there was little mention of what happened, and everyone moved on. The station received not a single complaint, and I recall only getting one email about the incident, which questioned when the clip would end up on YouTube. It finally did, more than a year later, the very day I left the station. My current employer stumbled upon the video, and was also not upset. As a former anchor herself, she knew things like this happen. Was it unfortunate that it was a story about a murder? Absolutely. Family members of Ms. Grant, who lived in Michigan, would never have known about this happening if it weren’t for YouTube, and it’s a terrible feeling that they might be hurt seeing this video. There was no apology issued on air because at the time, I thought it was best to ignore it and move on. I’m not sure if that’s how I would handle it now.
There are no other clips of me laughing on YouTube, because there simply aren’t any in existence. I’m far more experienced now, and I know how to handle myself in situations like this one. I have a sense of humor and believe me, I know this video is hilarious to anyone watching. But the fact of the matter is, news anchors mess up. They call people gay instead of blind, they curse on air, they make unintentional sexual innuendos, and sometimes they start laughing because everyone in the room is laughing. C’est la vie!
Again, thank you for giving me the chance to let you and your readers in on what happened.
Best,
Hema Mullur
Anchor
KFOX-TV
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
