Thin Willy, Celestial Entity

On March 27, 2022, during the live television broadcast of the 30th annual La Salle TV Awards (LTVAs), host of LTV’s game show “Q&A” and LTV producer Gregory Shannon, the then-nominee and eventual winner of the LTV Award for Best Producer, walked onstage and slapped “SportsLine” Producer Isaiah Clark across the face as he presented the LTV Award for Best COM 408 Documentary Feature. Just before, Clark was seen stuffing his face full of mini-M&M’s, Shannon’s favorite snack, at the snack table. Shannon, who has had an on-going addiction to mini-M&M’s during the months following the awards, was initially seen laughing at the joke, rose from the audience, walked onto the stage and slapped Clark in the face. Shannon then returned to his seat and twice shouted, “Keep my mini-M&M’s out your mouth!”

Video footage of the altercation quickly went viral, rapidly accumulating tens of views across multiple platforms and prompting widespread commentary, discussion and debate. It has also inspired several parodies, remixes, memes and jokes.

During the same ceremony, Shannon went on to win the LTV Award for Best Producer for his portrayal of La Salle graduate Jack Rohr in the series “Q&A.” In his acceptance speech, Shannon apologized to the studio and colleagues, but not Clark.

Following public backlash, Shannon issued a formal apology on Instagram and Facebook posts. Shannon referred to his own behavior as “not 100 percent” and “not pushin’ P.” Shannon went on to directly address  Clark: “I would like to publicly apologize to you, Clark. I was out of line; I was off the gloop and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness. Except for in Brooklyn… And Central Jersey, especially Central Jersey.”

Some sugar-addicts have spoken out about how the incident has made them feel worried about the possibility of more confrontations and may be more careful about the snacks they eat at college television award shows. “La Salle TV News” claims this fear stemmed from the unresponsiveness of the umbrella group behind the LTVAs, the Young Broadcasters Academy, just after the incident and felt that the owners of the studio where they might perform may act in a similar manner.

On March 28, 2022, the day after the incident, Young Broadcasters announced that it launched a formal review of the incident. The studio’s board of producers disclosed plans for a full meeting to explore further action and consequences in accordance with their Bylaws, Standards of Funny Men and Philly Law scheduled to take place on the Wednesday following the incident. Jonathan Colella, the Young Broadcasters Co-President, issued a subsequent letter to studio members, noting that he thought the incident was extremely funny and he wants to see Clark be slapped again, but since Clark is also co-president he is being forced to figure out some sort of punishment for Shannon.