Tony Dokoupil Denies Falling Asleep During ‘CBS This Morning’ Commercial Break

CBS This Morning anchor Tony Dokoupil insisted to his fans that he was not sleeping during the show on the morning on May 12 after being caught on camera with his head down.

Around 8:10 a.m., CBS This Morning came back from a commercial break and showed Dokoupil sitting in a chair, with his head down, looking like he was sleeping. After a silent pause, the show cut back to commercials. Co-host Anthony Mason picked up the show when it came back on after a few minutes. Dokoupil later came back and hosted the show as usual.  

However, many of those who watch CBS This Morning noticed the incident and voiced what they thought had happened on social media. Dokoupil addressed the concerns on Twitter when he responded to a fan that said, “OMG did @tonydokoupil get caught cat napping during the @CBSThisMorning break tease? I love this guy!” 

Dokoupil’s response read, “Ha! I was wondering why people were tweeting at me about naps. I was reading the ipad on my lap and then suddenly we were back!”

Some fans speculated that the reason Dokoupil was trying to squeeze in a power naps during commercial breaks because he was losing sleep from trying to care for his newborn son, Theodore Dokoupil. Dokoupil welcomed his son with his wife, fellow journalist, Katy Tur, in April. Dokoupil and Tur confirmed the birth of Teddy on live television with Tur’s MSNBC co-host, Kasie Hunt. Hunt said, “Teddy” Dokoupil’s arrival: “Mom, dad and tiny Teddy are all doing great.”

Dokoupil would not be the first to be caught falling asleep during a show. Mike Francesa, New York Sports Radio host once fell asleep during a show and so did Tucker Carlson from Fox News when he was on Fox and Friends.