The hosts of a talk show on the Televisa affiliate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico–which can be seen across the U.S. border in the El Paso, Texas, market–were fired after an on-air hoax went too far.
During a segment Enrique Tovar pressed his crotch up against co-host Tania Reza twice, forcing Reza to say “I can’t work like this,” before unclipping her mic and storming off set.
After Reza walked off, Tovar told the audience, “I’m sorry. I think my colleague is a bit hormonal…I think her udders went up.” The hosts later explained the whole thing was a setup.
“I just want to tell you we’re friends, we get along well, there was no harassment at any moment,” said Reza. “Her boyfriend almost wants to kill me, we didn’t know it would go that far,” added Tovar.
Televisa distanced itself from the scandal by issuing a separate written statement saying that the show’s producers had no knowledge of the skit. They blamed the TV hosts for trying to create “offensive” and “viral content” and promptly fired them from the station.
Reza then took to her Facebook page insisting the company pressured her to publicly take the blame. “Sadly, in these situations there’s pressure from the companies to say (and even record) that I’m guilty,” she wrote.