BBC Breakfast presenter Charlie Stayt was forced to apologise about a technical glitch in their report about Gene Hackman.
The Oscar-winning American actor, 95, and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their Santa Fe home in New Mexico along with their dog on Wednesday afternoon.
BBC Breakfast aired a pre-recorded segment about the police investigation into the tragedy on Friday, which ended on a photo of Hackman.
Due to a technical blunder, the image stayed onscreen after the segment ended and Stayt moved onto the next topic - a controversial BBC documentary about Gaza that was narrated by the son of Hamas leader.
Viewers continued to see the image of Hackman as Stayt said: “The BBC has apologised for serious flaws in the production of a documentary about the war in Gaza...”
Realising the mistake, the broadcaster, 62, looked flustered and said: “Apologies. Let's just get... that bit straightened out.”
The photo was taken off the screen but there was another issue as it was replaced too quickly with a reporter in Kyiv waiting to present the report on the Gaza documentary.
The reporter could be seen talking at the screen with no audio, before being taken off and flashing up again.
The gaffe was picked up by viewers at home, with one joking on X: “Work experience trainee producing #BBCBreakfast this morning?”
Police have said Hackman and his wife’s death is currently an active investigation but they do not believe foul play was a factor at this time and revealed that detectives found two surviving dogs at his home.
The alarm had been raised by a maintenance person doing pest control at the property, who was concerned because he had not seen the couple, police said.
Hackman’s body was found in a mud room, and his wife was found next to a space heater in a bathroom, detectives said.
The acting legend’s daughter Elizabeth Jean Hackman has broken her silence on the tragedy, claiming they could have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
She told TMZ that while she and the rest of her family are not sure of her father and step-mother’s cause of death, they believe it could be due to inhaling toxic fumes.
New Mexico Gas Company tested gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to a search warrant, and while no signs of problems were found, a detective noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide may not show signs of poisoning.
Hackman and Arakawa suffered “no external trauma” and had been “deceased for quite a while”, according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza.
Further ruling has been left to the Office of the Medical Investigator.
