In a moment of stage fright, "Transformers" director Michael Bay walked off the stage in the middle of a presentation at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Bay was supposed to present the new Samsung Ultra HD TV and exclusive footage preview of the upcoming "Transformers 4: Age of Extinction" movie.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, after he was introduced by Samsung Electronics America President Tim Baxter, Bay started his presentation by speaking about Hollywood being a place that "creates a viewing escape."
He soon got anxious during the scripted conversation with Samsung's Vice President, Joe Stinziano, when the teleprompter stopped, and he proceeded on circling the stage. He then indicated that the teleprompter was having problems and saying that he would "wing it," but he soon exited the stage in front of the live audience, leaving Stinziano to pick up the presentation by himself.
News of his walkout spread like wildfire, and according to MTV, netizens took the opportunity to slam the director for the incident.
Hypable noted that it was interesting that the director "was so shook up by having to go off script that he couldn't speak from his heart about connecting to the audience."
But the director seemed to have accepted the moment, as he wrote in his blog later, saying, "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."
Bay, however, assured the audience, that the footage will still be seen internationally. The director said that he is "doing a special curved screen experience with Samsung and Transformers 4 footage that will be traveling around the world."
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