Philadelphia News Station Brings Joe Frazier Back From Dead

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 12:31 p.m. ET

Fansided, Brittany Frederick/FanSided via Local POV

A Philadelphia TV station has egg on its face after wishing boxing legend Joe Frazier a happy birthday more than five years after he died.

No, it’s not a hologram or the zombie apocalypse: A Philadelphia morning show erroneously wished boxing legend Joe Frazier a happy birthday this week, obviously unaware that Frazier has been dead since 2011.

Good Day Philadelphia co-anchors Karen Hepp and Thomas Drayton mistakenly devoted part of their show Wednesday to commemorating Frazier’s birthday, with Hepp compounding the error by saying that Frazier would be celebrating his special day by going to Philadelphia’s City Hall for a meeting with some local youth boxers and their coaches.

Her bad information went right over Drayton’s head, too, as he simply concurred, “He really is a legend. Such a force.” In the present tense.

Not only has Frazier been dead since November 7, 2011, but the report didn’t even get his birthday right. The segment aired on February 11 and Frazier’s birthday was February 12, 1944.

Many other people were quicker on the uptake and to poke fun at the botched segment, with local news website FTVLive capturing the footage and posting it online for everyone around the nation to get a look at:

It’s crazy to think a TV segment could go so badly wrong. Many people are responsible for getting a report on the air, including anchors, producers and crew members. Did no one on the entire Good Day Philadelphia staff know that Joe Frazier is dead? Not even the guy responsible for the chyron at the bottom of the screen thought that was a bit weird? Or at least if you’re going to reanimate somebody, get their birthday right.

Obviously Frazier missed his scheduled City Hall appearance, unless this was a crazy stunt for an upcoming episode of The Walking Dead. And Good Day Philadelphia did correct itself later on. But we bet this morning show might hold off on wishing anyone a happy birthday for a while.

For more news, upcoming events and attractions in the Philadelphia area, visit the Philadelphia section of Local POV here. Just don’t go looking for Joe Frazier because he’s kind of busy enjoying the afterlife.