Those among you who tuned into MTV Goes Gold: New Year's Eve 2007 Sunday night were treated to VJ/Nick Lachey celebuwhore rebound girl Vanessa Minnillo, sauced and dressed like a foil-wrapped baked potato, accidentally letting an F-bomb fly—a gaffe she immediately catches by going deadly silent and turning helplessly to her co-host.

Having opted out of the 7-second delay in order to give viewers at home the most accurate countdown possible was a programming decision that will ultimately come back to bite MTV corporate parent Viacom, when the FCC gods high on Mount Decency throw down multimillion dollar fines* like thunderbolts, followed by a series of executive meetings over the financial feasibility of keeping on a foul-mouthed Minnillo, versus shitcanning her for another disposable Jessica Alba-type talking head who can effectively drum up the requisite TRL excitement about Fall Out Boy's latest without relying on an arsenal of four-letter descriptors.

*Correction:As a reader reminded us, FCC's jurisdiction reaches only to broadcast networks, not cable, so the slip won't result in fines, regardless of how many impressionable young MTV watchers now actively pepper their slang with profanity in an attempt at mimicking their VJ hero. We regret still being buried too deeply in our New Year's Eve K-hole to remember this salient fact at the time the above item went to press.

Correction II: A publicist's much-needed clarification about the time-delay issue is here.

• VJ Vanessa Minnillo drops the "F" Bomb on MTV' [YouTube]

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