1 month ago
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A CBS News journalist managed to break the internet on Wednesday with a quip about the papal conclave going on in the Vatican to pick a new pope.
That’s because Tony Dokoupil’s remark used a vulgar slang term associated with unprotected sex.
During live coverage of the conclave, CBS’s John Allen noted that all the clergy in attendance had their cell phones confiscated and said, “The one thing we know they’re not doing is checking Instagram.”
That led Dokoupil to joke, “I believe the kids call it rawdogging it,” which made all his on-air coworkers break up in laughter, while he attempted to finish the sentence with, “if you’re gonna go through a long period of time with no electronic device.”
Why the laughs?
Well, though Allen is right that “rawdogging” has been used on TikTok to describe giving up in-flight entertainment on a plane or other situations experienced without distraction or protection, that’s a cheeky play on its original slang meaning: having sex without a condom.
You can see the exchange below.
CBS ON CONCLAVE: "The one thing we know they're not doing is checking Instagram because their devices have all been confiscated."
"I believe the kids call it rawdogging." 😳🤣 pic.twitter.com/AOI8Whb3vV
HuffPost reached out to CBS News for comment, but no one immediately responded.
However, as mentioned earlier, clips of Dokoupil’s quip quickly went viral.
I’m cryin...We just witnessed the exact moment CBS stopped pretending they had standards.
Rawdoggin the conclave is WILD.
This phrase and the conclave do not go together
— Meghan McCarthy (@MeghanMcCarthy_) May 7, 2025Remember kids, don’t Google “Rawdogging Cardinals”
Because there are some things you can never un-google
CBS went from reporting the news to sounding like a drunk youth pastor trying to go viral on TikTok. Next up: “Slay, Pope!” live from the Vatican.
— The Undercurrent (@NotTheirScript) May 7, 2025Cardinals and the term "rawdogging" usually only come up in court cases.
— Denison Barb (@DenisonBarbs) May 7, 2025I love how @CBSNews anchors use the term “rawdogging” during the papal conclave. What a great news station to employ people that make grotesque statements during one of the largest ceremonial events in Catholicism.
— Shiftologist (@TheShiftologist) May 7, 2025CBS anchor mentions the term “rawdogging” in a segment about the conclave. Incredible moment in TV news history. pic.twitter.com/b2WrL5Gw5N
— Jason Paladino (@jason_paladino) May 7, 2025We Won't Back Down
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Meanwhile, Dokoupil seems to be on a roll when it comes to going viral.
Earlier this month, his interview with football coach Bill Belichick and his decades-younger girlfriend Jordon Hudson went off the rails when she refused to discuss how they met.
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