News anchor’s chilling final words before she killing herself on live TV
The brother of the news anchor who stunned viewers by taking her own life during a live broadcast has finally spoken out, revealing that he has thought about her “public suicide” every single day since it occurred in 1975.
On the morning of July 15, 1974, on-air personality Christine Chubbuck was seated at the news desk for her daily live program, Suncoast Digest, where she engaged with her audience of around 500 people in south-central Florida.
“It was her show,” Greg, Chubbuck’s brother, shared with People. “It was one person doing all of it with very low pay.”
As reported in a 1975 article by the Washington Post, the 29-year-old earned approximately $5,000 annually for hosting the 30-minute morning show that began airing on ABC affiliate WXLT-TV in 1972.
The final episode
At the anchor desk of Sarasota’s Channel 40, Chubbuck delivered three routine news stories with composure before she attempted to introduce a pre-recorded segment about a local shooting that had occurred the night before.
When the video failed to play because of a technical issue, she tossed her dark hair, gazed straight into the camera, and calmly stated something that would astonish viewers and make media history: “In line with Channel 40’s commitment to delivering the latest in blood and guts, and in vibrant color, you are about to witness another first – an attempted suicide.”
In that haunting moment, Chubbuck reached for the brown bag she had previously placed under the desk, took out a revolver, and tragically shot herself live on television.
She then slumped over the desk as the broadcast abruptly faded to black, ending the horrifying moment.
“I rushed out to the studio thinking it was a very distasteful joke, and I was ready to give her a piece of my mind,” recalled the show’s technical director Linford Rickard.
Instead, he witnessed blood streaming from her head onto the studio floor.
Chubbuck was quickly taken to the hospital, where she passed away 15 hours later.
Final words
Although the Ohio native did not leave a suicide note, she did leave her script – marked by her blood on the news desk – to be read following the shooting.
Written in the third person, it depicted a TV personality who, after shooting herself during a live broadcast, was in “critical condition” at Sarasota Memorial Hospital.
Her final words, “an attempted suicide,” initially puzzled many, but as her colleagues clarified, Chubbuck “was too good to write’ a suicide’ when it might have failed.”
Additionally, her mother shared with the Washington Post that “Chris was hedging her bets.”
Struggles with depression
“It was the most unexpected thing in the world,” former WXLT chief engineer Dan Lunin told People. “None of us had any idea there was any real problem there. What was in her heart or mind we will never know.”
Meanwhile, Greg noted that his sister, who had exhibited signs of depression since she was just 10, carried a lot of sadness within her: “Nothing brought her joy in the way that being good at something brings joy to most people,” he mentioned in a 2016 interview with the Sun.
Reflecting on the past, he now suspects that Chubbuck may have been bipolar – although in 1974, that diagnosis was not widely recognized.
The now-retired relative reminisced, “Christine would excel at tasks and then abruptly switch to something else, which was one of the early indicators she was bipolar.”
At that time, however, the TV host was only diagnosed with “general depression,” and the treatments available back then may have exacerbated her condition, ultimately leading to her death.
‘Nothing glorious about suicide’
“Public suicide is another level beyond suicide. It’s an anger and rage that I can’t comprehend, and I’ve contemplated it every day,” Greg remarked about Chubbuck’s shocking on-air death that captured national attention.
In 1974, American television journalist Christine Chubbuck committed suicide live on American television.#History pic.twitter.com/z49Uy8DDah
— Olaudah Equiano® (@RealOlaudah) March 28, 2023
Years later, her tragic suicide resonated throughout pop culture, even serving as an inspiration for the Oscar-winning film Network in 1976, featuring Faye Dunaway and Peter Finch.
In 2016, Chubbuck’s poignant narrative gained fresh attention on the big screen, with two impactful films exploring her last days.
Christine presents a dramatic and emotionally intense portrayal of the ambitious reporter’s decline, while Kate Plays Christine adopts a more avant-garde style – a meta-documentary that follows an actress as she prepares to embody the news anchor, merging the boundaries between acting and reality.
“I just wish the people who were interested in Christine were interested in who she really was or helping people who find themselves in the same circumstance,” Greg told the Sun. “I choose not to watch either of the two films…There’s nothing glorious about suicide, or the impact it has on those who loved the individual.”
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