Grape Lady

About

Grape Lady, also known as Grape Lady Falls, refers to a viral fail video of a news reporter stomping grapes with a winery employee on a stage multiple feet in the air, then falling facefirst to the ground, followed by her screaming and groaning in pain. The clip originally aired for WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia in 1998 and was first uploaded to YouTube in 2006, reaching peak popularity in 2009.

Origin

In the summer of 1998, Fox 5 News reporter Melissa Sander went on-location at the Chateau Elan Winery and Resort to report on an upcoming grape-stomping competition. During the report, which takes place on a platform multiple feet off the ground where two buckets of grapes sit, a staff member asks Sander to stomp grapes with her. The reporter agrees and stomps grapes with the employee. At one point Sander playfully tricks the employee by suddenly saying "stop" and waving her hands. The employee stops and Sander quickly continues to stomp the grapes, then loses her balance and falls face-first out of the bucket and off the platform into the grass below. Sander begins wailing in pain, repeatedly saying "stop" and that she can't breathe before the report fades back to the newsroom.

The video first went viral in 2004 before YouTube launched and was passed around video websites like Revver and VideoVat as evidenced by an article about it published to Method Shop^[2] on May 16th, 2004. It was first posted to YouTube by YouTuber^[1] drewlacrosse17 on August 15th, 2006, gaining over 3.6 million views in 15 years (shown below).

Spread

On November 14th, 2005, YTMND ^[4] user Wonderboy2402 created a page consisting of a techno remix of the Grape Lady audio, garnering over 24,000 views in 16 years. Throughout 2006, several other YTMND^[5][6] pages were created referencing Grape Lady.

On October 15th, 2006, YouTuber^[7] otherpeoplesfaces uploaded a video in which the footage is edited together with death metal music, garnering over 104,000 views in 14 years and representing the first known video edit of the footage uploaded to YouTube (shown below).

In 2007, the number of video edits using Grape Lady increased greatly, peaking in popularity in 2009. For example, on May 15th, 2007, YouTuber^[8] SamWrangles uploaded an animated version of the video, garnering over 500,000 views in 13 years (shown below, left). On December 19th, 2007, YouTuber^[3] yankeesfan22vt reposted the video, garnering over 20 million views in 13 years. On May 18th, 2008, YouTuber^[9] shananagains88 uploaded an original remix of the video and audio, garnering over 187,000 views in 12 years (shown below, right).

On November 16th, 2008, the FOX animated series Family Guy aired an episode titled "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing,"^[12] including a spoof of the Grape Lady video in which Stewie plays the part of the reporter. On May 23rd, 2009, YouTuber^[13] theamericannerd uploaded the clip, garnering over 1.3 million views in 11 years (shown below).

The video has gained fame online, frequently being reposted and referenced on social media over a decade later. On May 18th, 2016, YouTuber^[14] allenpalin uploaded a video in which he splices an audio clip of comedian Bill Burr talking about the Grape Lady video with footage from the original, garnering over 587,000 views in four years (shown below).

On August 11th, 2018, Redditor /u/Glogesgonewild posted the video to /r/videos,^[15] garnering over 40,800 upvotes in two years.

What Happened to the Grape Lady?

May have wondered what happened to Sander after the video, particularly if she suffered any serious injuries. According to an article posted to Bro Council^[10] on February 4th, 2014, Sander said during an interview on the radio program Totally Real Exposé:

Am I embarrassed that I fell? Of course. I also broke a couple ribs, thanks for asking. I had to spend a few weeks in the hospital under observation. I suffered quite a bit for an honest mistake, a momentary lapse in concentration, and now I’m trying to move on.

On October 25th, 2015, Chris Valentine posted an article for Odd Culture^[11] further exploring Sander's status.

On April 23rd, 2019, Youtuber^[12] WavyWebSurf uploaded a video detailing the story of Grape Lady and what might have happened to her, garnering over 520,000 views in five years (shown below). The video details how Sander left the news network shortly after the grape stomping incident to work as a weather reporter on another station, but it's uncertain if the incident was the reason for this move. She has moved between several news stations since.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References