KCBS reporter Serene Branson says she's feeling OK

KCBS reporter Serene Branson, who has sparked a Web sensation with her live post-Grammy Award report in which she is talking gibberish [video here], has told her bosses that she is feeling fine and that her mangled speech was not indicative of a serious medical problem.

Branson on Monday was responding to concerns that she may have suffered a stroke or some other seizure while launching into a report outside Staples Center at the top of KCBS' 11:30 p.m. news. The live broadcast of the Grammys had ended about three hours earlier when Branson started her report on the drama surrounding the ceremony.

Branson was immediately examined by paramedics on the scene following the report, and was not hospitalized. She was reported to be resting at home Monday.

While Branson told station executives there was no indication of a serious medical problem, it remained unclear when she would return to work.

Meanwhile, the Web had exploded with videos of the report, with observers making fun or blasting Branson for her flub.

Branson, who started working at the station in July 2006,  is a two-time Emmy nominee and a recipient of the Frank Shakespeare Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism, according to her bio on the station's website. A graduate of UCLA and a "proud Bruin," she "is thrilled to be reporting on stories in her hometown," where she was born and raised.

The sudden attention surrounding Branson recalls to some extent the hoopla that surrounded Caitlin Upton, a 2007 Miss South Carolina Teen USA who became an unwitting national celebrity when she provided a rambling, nonsensical answer to a question posed to her during the Miss Teen USA 2007 pageant.

RELATED:

KCBS reporter Serene Branson talks her way into post-Grammy drama

-- Greg Braxton

Comments

[ilovegoodmysteries@yahoo.com]

She sounded like she had been drinking. I hope she's OK

[ilovegoodmysteries@yahoo.com]

She sounded like she had been drinking. Didn't seem like a stroke, at all. I hope that she's OK.

[Erik]

How does this recall that Miss Teen USA clip? Oh yeah, both are jokes on blonde women, you mean old sexists. That is the sole similarity and it is disgusting that you would compare the two. Get the innate hate out of your hearts and minds and start posting things people want to read about.

[BillH76]

Ms. Branson is not an authority on her neurological condition. It's good that she feels OK, but she needs to see a neurologist. And KCBS needs to stop saying that she is OK. Her condition is unknown.

[Thaddeus Gomez]

CBS should get Ms. Branson an MRI just to rule anything serious out. And all of the morons making fun of what she went through deserve to have aphasia for the rest of their lives.

[Mybelle781]

Not drinking! Come on....some words would have come out intelligibly, but besides the two words at the beginning of her sentence that was it! There is no comparison to the 2007 beauty contestant, at least she was stringing words that you could recognize!! There is something wrong with Ms. Branson.

[Kimmie]

I am horrified that this poor woman is the butt of jokes. She obviously did have a stroke or some kind of seizure. It in no way compares to Caitlin Upton's mere "blonde" moment. This was a frightening incident for Serene, which could possibly affect her long-term health and well-being, and to have fun at her expense because of it is just deplorable.

[Clayton Bigsby]

If you got hate in your heart, let it out.

[LLSinSCV]

http://www.kfiam640.com/cc-common/mainheadlines3.html?feed=153218&article=8170814

OMG -- how terrible and how young!
Hey, STROKE is NOT something to joke about or take lightly. They should have checked her out at the hospital, not by EMT on-site at the Grammy's. I hope she sees a DR for a full check up pronto.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2011/02/kcbs-reporter-serene-branson-tells-her-bosses-shes-feeling-fine.html

What Happened During Serene's Report?
Monday 02-14-2011 11:12am PT
A local TV reporter may have suffered a stroke while covering the Grammy Awards. Serene Branson was live on the air Sunday when she started slurring her words.
Branson's station hasn't said what may have happened. (READ MORE from Huffington Post) Dr. Neil Martin, Chair UCLA Neurology provides insight into recognizing the signs and symptoms of strokes in both younger and older patients.

[Brad]

Good god, WHY are you comparing this to the beauty contestant who just didn't know what to say? WHAT is the POSSIBLE similarity between these two versus someone else flubbing their lines, other than the fact that hse was clearly not flubbing her lines - something was very wrong. It was not alcohol, it was clear that she became dysphasic, and you could see quite clearly that she realized something was horribly wrong after struggling for a few seconds. She was terrified.

People are idiots for ridiculing this, and whoever wrote and approved this story and its "comparison" should be embarrassed.

[bigyaz]

How does this possibly relate to Caitlin Upton? One was an accomplished journalist who had a medical event happen on the air. The other was a nervous, bubble-headed teen in a beauty pageant.

Oh yeah, they're blonde women. Guess that's good enough for you.

[Dew]

I saw this last night and thought immediately that she might have had a stroke of some kind, she couldn't even form words and I don't think she was drunk. It was disturbing.

[Dave Applebay]

Wow! She was messed up!

[Marco Budgyk]

This article on Branson made sense until it got to the comparison to Miss Teen South Carolina. Because there is absolutely NO connection or resemblance or even metaphor between the two situations and the two women's speech. None. Zero. Zip.

Whoever thought to throw that in the article as something that "recalls" Miss Teen South Carolina's perfectly healthy and knowing incomprehensibility should have their own head examined.

[dave]

Serene needs to see a neurologist today. That was clearly a TIA. I know; I had two on Good Friday of 2001 and then had a massive stroke on Easter the same year. DON'T PUT IT OFF! Get a Cat Scan and an MRI and find out what caused this situation. You clearly had an extreme neurological event and need to be looked at as soon as possible.

[DKD]

First, Frank Rizzo - you're a disgusting, pig and a fricken idiot.

Any person - with half a brain - knows that drunks SLUR their words. Anyone who's ever known someone who's had a stroke, (or distinct neurological issue)and has had the horrible experience of being there, first hand, while it was happening, knows the difference.

I recognized it when I saw it, and the fact that her camera man called 911 immediately is proof that he, too, knew the difference.

I wish her the best... And I wish some common decency for those of you morons who are poking fun at her.

[Gator]

It's interesting that CBS has had the video pulled. If it were somebody other that "one of them" it would be plastered all over the place. Another prime example of hypocrisy and the media.

[zabadu]

Obviously, commenters can't tell the difference between a drunk and something really wrong.

She was using non-sensical words. She had some kind of neurological problem, maybe a TIA. That wasn't slurring. That was stroke-like stuff and I hope she takes it seriously.

[dan]

lol, it wasnt a stroke and she doesnt need to see a neurologist.

i think she started out ok, and then when she messed up at the beginning she just got more and more flustered, realising she was choking, and therefore just spewed out gibberish as a result.

[Joe]

I witnessed my father experiencing TIAs and they were almost identical to what Serene displayed. One minute he was speaking normally, and the next his words were gibberish. She should have an MRI.