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Michael Bay implodes at Samsung's CES press conference

After an issue with a teleprompter, the "Transformers" director walks off the stage during the Samsung CES press conference.

Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
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Roger Cheng
2 min read
Watch this: Michael Bay quits Samsung's press conference

LAS VEGAS -- Michael Bay is making headlines of a different kind at the Consumer Electronics Show.

The "Transformers" director was Samsung's big guest speaker at the company's CES press conference. But after an issue with a teleprompter, Bay found himself at a loss for words and simply walked off the stage.

It made for an extremely awkward moment, and an embarrassing one for Samsung, which loaded the conference with its usual bevy of product announcements in a number of different areas.

The incident, which quickly hit Twitter, underscores the kind of waves an event at CES makes -- particularly from a high-profile company such as Samsung. Unfortunately for Bay, these weren't the kind of waves anyone wanted to make.

Bay later wrote a blog post about the incident, though he didn't go so far as to offer up an apology:

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.

Read CNET's live blog of Samsung's press conference here.

Director Michael Bay James Martin/CNET

Updated at 4:54 p.m. PT: with quotes from Michael Bay's blog.