This is the hilarious moment a former Rio de Janeiro mayor was caught with his pants down while squatting in the bathroom during an online town hall meeting.
César Maia, 78, three-time mayor of Rio, joined other councilors for the June 5 on-screen session.
But as they set about taking care of council business, it became clear that Maia had other matters to attend to as her laptop camera tilted to reveal her compromising position.
The surprising video of the meeting, which appeared on social media, shows Maia sitting in her bathroom with her pants down to her ankles.
The poorly placed laptop camera clearly shows him leaning forward with his arms on his bare legs before he suddenly appears to realize he was showing more than intended and quickly grabs the device and raises the camera again.
This is the hilarious moment a former mayor of Rio de Janeiro (below left) was caught with his pants down while squatting in the bathroom during an online town hall meeting.
César Maia, 78 (below left), three-time mayor of Rio, had joined other councilors for the June 5 on-screen session, but it became clear he had other matters to attend to.
The footage then cuts to the session leader, Pablo Mello, sitting in the council room, who could barely help but laugh as he realized what was happening.
Maia’s embarrassing mistake is just the latest to happen to workers and officials since virtual meetings became more common during the pandemic.
However, he was not fast enough to prevent the other attendees from noticing.
The footage then shows session leader Pablo Mello sitting in the council room, who could barely help but laugh as he realized what was happening.
As she struggled to keep up with the agenda, she had to look away from the screen and away from the microphone to stay in control of her joy.
Then, through clenched teeth, he pleaded: ‘Councilmember César Maia, I ask you to turn off the camera, please.’
Maia, horrified, replied: “Of course.”
His image disappeared from the screens of the other councilors who were still without him, according to local media.
Maia’s embarrassing mistake is just the latest to happen to workers and officials since virtual meetings became more common during the pandemic.
Amid Covid-19 lockdown rules, Zoom and other video calling services became the ideal hub for organizing meetings, weddings, baptisms and funerals.
Although the idea seemed ideal at the time (at least for those who prefer to tackle daily life from the comfort of their couch), the shift to the digital world brought its own set of problems for everyone connecting in real time via a webcam.
In May 2020, a businessman was left in a nightmare situation after accidentally turning off his camera while showering during a Zoom meeting, also in Brazil.
But this wasn’t just any meeting: the mistake occurred in a virtual conference call with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro.
A businessman accidentally left his camera on while showering (below right) during a Zoom conference call with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro in May 2020.
New Zealand Cr David Benson-Pope forgot to turn off his camera settings during the postponement of a live-streamed council meeting in 2020, with his bare legs on display.
In hilarious screenshots of the moment, a shirtless man, supposedly one of the federation’s advisors, can be seen alongside 24 stone-faced officials.
Bolsonaro interrupted the call to say that they had “unfortunately” seen the man, completely naked in the shower. Fortunately for the man who was showering, he was not identified.
That same month, a New Zealand councillor, Cr David Benson-Pope, shocked his Dunedin Council colleagues and viewers watching a live-streamed council meeting when he walked into his study showing off his bare legs.
Dressed in a suit jacket and work shirt, the former Labor cabinet minister appeared to be wearing no trousers as he did some cleaning with a feather duster during a break while waiting for the meeting to continue.
After pictures of the moment began circulating online, the unfortunate Benson-Pope was forced to clarify that he was, in fact, wearing shorts because he had just returned from gardening before the meeting.
Then, in July 2020, Bernardo Bustillo, who was working as a part-time councilor for the community of Torrelavega in Cantabria, northern Spain, decided to take a shower in the middle of a meeting, without realizing that his camera was still on.
And in October 2020, at the peak of the Covid pandemic, a mother from the United States accidentally flashed her young son’s entire class when she entered the virtual lesson frame completely naked.
Across the pond in Canada, a lawmaker was returning from a 2021 run ahead of a virtual legislative meeting with the House of Commons.
But William Amos, 46, who represents parts of Quebec, didn’t realize his camera was on when he changed out of his running clothes and into something more appropriate for his home office.
He was then seen completely naked during meetings of the House of Commons, flanked by a flag of Canada and Quebec on either side.
Amos, who is married with two children, apologized for the “unfortunate mistake.”
Bustillo (below left) decided to take a shower during a meeting, but didn’t realize he hadn’t turned off his camera. He then came out of the shower to reveal his naked body and then offered his resignation to the council.
A Texas lawyer accidentally left a kitten filter during a Zoom hearing in February 2021, hilariously telling the judge “I’m not a cat” while desperately trying to remove the animated image.
Liberal MP William Amos, 46, who represents parts of Quebec, was seen completely naked during a House of Commons meeting in 2021, flanked by a Canadian and Quebec flag on either side, after stripping in his office After running.
And in another famous incident, a Texas lawyer accidentally left a kitten filter during a Zoom hearing in February 2021, hilariously telling the judge “I’m not a cat” while desperately trying to remove the animated image.
More recently (to the horror of those who still webcam regularly), a businesswoman accidentally filmed herself naked in the shower in front of other remote mourners.
But to make matters worse, the woman was attending the virtual funeral of a highly respected father of three who died after a long battle with cancer.