UnNews:Tony Dokoupil drank too much whiskey, show went on anyways
Saturday, January 17th, 2026
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - Recent anchor of the CBS Evening News, Tony Dokoupil, had a little too much whiskey during a "Whiskey Fridays" segment with Andy Barr.
Tony started off the newscast with a plug of the segment of which Tony was to interview Andy about Kentucky and other American issues relevant to America. Sources at that time said that Tony was not expecting to drink liquor of any sort and assumed that "Whiskey Fridays" was just a name and that Jack Daniels was just the sponsor.
Roughly a few seconds later, Tony and Andy were sitting from opposite ends of a table facing each other in a virtual set that looked like a bar but wasn't, Tony attempt to start the interview but got caught off guard by Andy questioning him about his whiskey consumption.
Andy then had a producer put a bottle of Jack Daniels and two glasses on the table. He then poured the whiskey into the glasses and pressured Tony to "drink up" despite his only alcoholic experience consisting of drinking Bud Light Platinum during football games.
A few minutes in, Tony had looked visibly tipsy with him beginning to slur his words a bit, he attempted to get the interview back on track but couldn't as Andy wouldn't shut up about the manliness of Kentuckian Whiskey. Tony also complained about the bitter taste in his mouth but was not given any chaser despite multiple requests.
Halfway into the segment, Tony's low alcohol tolerance became apparent as he struggled to keep himself composed and started to think he was Bryant Gumbel from NBC News Today. He also thought it was Thursday and started to promote "30 Rock From the Sun" thinking it was one TV show when it was actually two. Surprisingly, Andy had a higher tolerance level than him and only exhibited minor slurring.
By the time the segment was near its end, Tony was complaining about both blurriness of vision and the constant streaks of light. He also threw up a bunch of times and often confused the virtual background for a real bar, getting angry after realizing the fact. He had also started to get aggressive and had began instigating fights just to prove how much of a man he was.
Shortly after, Tony began to vomit over everybody including Andy who was disgusted by the feeling of vomit all around him. He then began to felt dizzy and abruptly passed out with 5 minutes left in the show.
Worried that CBS would lose viewers, the producers propped up Tony moving his hands and mouth and speaking in a high pitched voice that sounded nothing like Tony. They proceeded to throw Andy some softball questions that he answered with ridiculous ease.
Tony was then taken to the ER where he had to wait for a bed, all while the producers had to deal with him throwing up.
As of current, Tony is recovering in a hospital room from the amount of whiskey that he had consumed. He then left this tweet to his followers.
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| Who is Tony and why do I have his phone? How the hell did I end up in a hospital? Who am I? SOMEBODY TELL ME WHO I AM!!! | ||||
| 4:00 AM - 17 January 2026 | ||||
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The ratings for that Friday's newscast was still lower than that of ABC World News with David Muir and NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas combined despite the attempts of CBS' news director Bari Weiss to frame the newscast as a ratings smash.
As of press time, Bari Weiss made no indication that this wouldn't happen again. When a reporter asked her if anything like that is going to happen again, she enthusiastically replied "Well stay tuned! Cause this Thursday, the CBS Evening News is going to crucify Tony Dokoupil by stripping him naked, nailing him to the cross and having anybody and everybody throw stones at him." despite Tony having not recovered from his drunken binge yet.
Sources[edit | edit source]
- Bradley Cortright "Embarrassment at CBS News as Secret Jack Daniels ‘Whiskey Fridays With Tony Dokoupil’ Set Is Exposed, Leading to Ethics Concerns" The New York Sun, January 16, 2026