The married couple that pulled off a fake New Year's proposal in order to shout "I love boobs" on CNN told Clay Travis how they carried out the prank Tuesday morning on his radio show.
The stunt was a profitable one for Dustin and Marissa Smith; Travis had offered $10,000 to anyone who said "I love boobs" on CNN New Year's Eve and doubled it to $20,000 if a woman said it.
Travis has been at war with CNN—and Brooke Baldwin in particular—since he was banned from the network in September when he told Baldwin during an interview he was a proponent of the "First Amendment and boobs." Travis said Baldwin—who wrote an outraged op-ed at the time about the interview with Travis—was hypocritical since she joked about having bigger "balls" than co-host Don Lemon during their New Year's Eve coverage.
Okay, @outkick new year’s eve challenge for Bama, Clemson or others on Bourbon Street in NOLA. Boobs Baldwin and Don Lemon are interviewing random people in the bar there. Get on air and say you love boobs and I will give you $10k.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 1, 2018
The Smiths got wind of Travis' offer and told their Uber driver to head for the bar on Bourbon Street where Baldwin and Lemon were posted up.
Dustin said it was his idea to fake the marriage proposal, telling his wife to give him her engagement ring while they were still in the car. Travis snarked it might not take a lot of intelligence to out-smart CNN.
After they both paid $50 cover charges to get into the bar, Dustin said he was surprised to see he could walk straight up to Lemon and Baldwin and tell them about the idea.
"I could tell he started drinking a little earlier," Dustin said of Lemon.
He said the hosts seemed 50-50 on the idea until Dustin showed them the ring, and CNN then decided to broadcast the "engagement."
"I knew we would get on air. Dustin's great at doing things like that," Marissa said.
After Dustin "proposed," Marissa yelled, "I love boobs," into Baldwin's microphone, adding, "B-O-O-B-S," a direct mocking of Baldwin when she spelled out the word during her interview with Travis.
The moment quickly went viral, and Marissa said she and her husband's phones and Twitter mentions immediately exploded.
Dustin said a CNN producer gave them a "come on, man" look after his wife yelled into the microphone. A spokesman for Lemon said he had no comment about the prank, while a spokesman for Baldwin did not respond to a request for comment.
Marissa added she was not offended by Travis' initial comments about liking the "First Amendment and boobs," telling him, "I understand it completely."
The Smiths are Georgia Bulldog fans who initially thought their team would be playing in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, hence their trip to the Big Easy. Georgia wound up playing across the country in the Rose Bowl in the other college football playoff semifinal, where the Bulldogs beat Oklahoma in double overtime on Monday.
Travis told them to spend the $20,000 wisely, throwing out the possibility of splurging on tickets for the national title game between Georgia and Alabama. The championship is being played in the Smith's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.
A delighted Travis tweeted gleefully about the prank after it happened, also noting CNN still had video up of the proposal as though it was legitimate.
The @outkick duo who just blew up @cnn with a fake marriage proposal in NOLA & then screamed they love boobs are @marissabeall & @DustinCSmith. They are geniuses & just made $20k from me. I love you both & I’d officiate your wedding if you weren’t married already. Happy New Year!
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 1, 2018
So @outkick dunked on @BrookeBCNN & @cnn so hard last night on their own airwaves that I think they're still in concussion protocol. Must watch video of absolute destruction. B-O-O-B-S style. https://t.co/3bWQp8qpaX
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 1, 2018
Amazingly @cnn is so dumb that they are still airing last night's video where they got dunked on as real news on their website. This is just total destruction. Don't fuck with @outkick. https://t.co/3bWQp8qpaX
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) January 1, 2018
Watch the CNN broadcast of the couple's "proposal":