The 18 most mortifying media moments of 2018

11 — CNN Flies to Thailand to Interview Prostitute Who Claims to Have Dirt on Trump. (March 5, 2018)

Digging through dumpsters was hardly CNN’s nadir for the year. The network also sent a reporter to Thailand, where a prostitute claimed to have the goods on the Trump camp’s alleged collusion with Russia. The catch? The woman, Anastasia Vashukevich, who is also a self-described “sex coach,” is imprisoned, and hoped America (and/or CNN) would offer her asylum in exchange for her story. CNN’s Ivan Watson appeared miffed she wouldn’t offer up any of her apparent intel without first being sprung from jail, and thus not much came from his assignment. As of August 31st, the New York Times reported she’s still in jail, but is now facing a much longer jail sentence after her bizarre bid for freedom “badly backfired.”