‘Shake It Off’: Reporter Refuses to Stand Down After Crawling Insect Hijacks Her Live Shot Like Nothing Is Wrong
Delivering live news coverage comes with its challenges, as no reporter can never prepare for what may occur outside of their control.
Rachel Menitoff of KTLA 5 Los Angeles recently experienced that firsthand.
Since beginning her reporting career in 2014, she has worked at stations in Washington, Charlottesville, Virginia, St. Louis, and Baltimore before landing in Los Angeles.
With her extensive résumé, she clearly has the experience to pivot when needed and act fast in uncertain situations.
That was certainly put to the test during her live shot on Tuesday.
Menitoff was standing outside in Sherman Oaks on July 14 filming with her team when an unexpected friend jumped in the shot.
In the clip, the reporter was focused on delivering her story in the extreme heat conditions, when suddenly a huge cockroach crawled up her navy blue top.
“And it’s a lot more comfortable at this hour, but we’re still in the ’80s here in the valley,” Menitoff continues. Meanwhile, the roach scurried from the bottom of her shirt to the top of her neck.
In a flash, the roach then dipped down into her shirt and came back up to her neck again as Menitoff kept her professional poise.
“So overnight temperatures not necessarily dropping so this leads to less recovery time from the daytime heat,” she continued reporting.
The roach went down her shirt again before coming up and flying away.
As soon as the live shot was done, the camera person captured Menitoff brushing her body off with her hands and putting her microphone down on a bench.
She then shook her arms around to the side in attempts to clear off anymore potential critters.
After the broadcast, Menitoff told KTLA, “I knew it was on me. But I knew if I took notice of it, I wouldn’t be able to continue on with the report. So I said to myself, just get through this moment and then kind of shake it off.”
According to Menitoff, the intrusion wasn’t super unlikely because it was the perfect weather condition for a cockroach.
“Ironically, the story was about the extreme heat in the Valley, and these cockroaches are attracted to the heat and the warm temperatures and our camera lights,” she said. “So, it was sort of the perfect environment for the roaches.”
KTLA reporter unfazed by disgusting cockroach crawling on her during live segment.
Credit: KTLA pic.twitter.com/1npXVo13Yg
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 15, 2026
Fans reacted to the shocking incident online.
One person said, “My goodness. It was the size of a chihuahua.” Another person typed, “That gives me the creeps!”
Someone else wrote, “She took ‘I love my job’ to another level.” A fourth typed, “No amount of professionalism would allow me to ignore that.”
Menitoff seems to be in better spirits now. She reposted the clip on her Instagram page making a joke that the roach was “Trying to steal [her] thunder.”
That same morning, Menitoff’s colleagues rewatched and talked about it on their page.
Even meteorologist Kirk Hawkins said, “That’s terrifying.”
The others gave her props on remaining calm under what some would say was a scary moment.