There’s a lot of concerns in the U.S. lately, including explosive diarrhea, record-breaking heat, hazardous air quality from wildfires and foreign wars jacking up gas prices. Attacks by giant cockroaches are now also on that list.
Rachel Menitoff, a reporter for KTLA in Los Angeles, was the subject of such an attack Tuesday night while she was reporting live from Sherman Oaks. While she updated viewers on a heat wave, a cockroach flew on Menitoff’s shoulder and crawled across her chest.
It wasn’t a typical cockroach. According to the University of Maryland Extension, most cockroaches in the U.S. are around 1 inch long or smaller. This one looked to be close to the same size as the top of Menitoff’s microphone.
If Menitoff would have jumped or screamed as the cockroach skittered across stomach, chest and neck before flying on to that microphone, many people would have understood. However, she was cool under the crawling. She continued delivering her report without even breaking concentration.
“Only after the live shot ended did she brush the bug away,” KTLA reported.
“Oh gosh. Oh, I feel something,” she reportedly said.
Her colleagues at the station were impressed. On “KTLA 5 Morning News” the next morning, they “praised her exposure,” the outlet said.
“I have to hand it to her. She was really calm,” reporter Eric Spillman said.
“That’s terrifying,” said meteorologist Kirk Hawkins said. “Now we’re all going to have nightmares about flying cockroaches.”
Soon, the clip was circulating on social media. Others were also wowed by the reporter’s composure. Former mayoral candidate Spence Pratt also shared the clip on X and used it to criticize Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. Menitoff was reporting from Raman’s district.
After the broadcast, Menitoff said she was aware the cockroach had landed on her. She made a conscious decision to stay focused.
“I knew it was on me,” she revealed. “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.”
Menitoff also explained that the cockroach’s appearance is actually linked to her report.
“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.”
As of 2021, data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that about 14 million of the approximately 124 million occupied housing units in the U.S. reported seeing roaches in their homes. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, cockroaches can trigger asthma and other health concerns.
