Journalist fired for covering himself in mud before going live on television

He wanted to make his intervention more credible on the deadly and devastating floods in Spain but he created a scandal in the country. Rubén Gisbert, a 34-year-old lawyer and journalist, was fired from the program “Horizonte” after being caught by residents of Catarroja deliberately soiling his clothes with mud before a live television broadcast last Thursday. The reporter is accused of having wanted to “exaggerate the situation” by imagining a staging, explains The Confidential.

Residents of this town in the Valence region filmed it from their window and revealed the images on social networks. Then, the images of Rubén Gisbert quickly went viral.

Accused of disinformation during a report in Ukraine

The host and producer of the show was forced to explain himself in a video broadcast on X on Monday. He defended himself, swearing that he had never asked the reporter to cover himself in mud. He said he was “stunned” and “disgusted”. He announced his intention to take action against the journalist, before finally firing him. He also demanded public explanations.

A request which was heard since Rubén Gisbert spoke in another video, which he published on social networks on Monday. He apologized but claimed to be the victim of a smear campaign. He also claimed that his speech had to be recorded in order to be broadcast after a sequence where he was in a mud-filled garage. However, there was indeed a “live” banner when he appeared full of mud on the air.

According to the Spanish media, Rubén Gisbert has already been accused of disinformation in the past. While he was sent to cover the war in Ukraine, he assured that President Volodymyr Zelensky was committing “ethnic cleansing in Donbass” and that the United States had provoked the Russian invasion. Prosecuted for hate crime, he finally won his case in court.