Interview

Serene Branson Gives First Interview After Slurred Words

Since migraine forced her to garble words.

TV reporter Serene Branson’s gibberish on Grammy Night amused Internet viewers for a little bit—until they learned that she may have suffered a stroke. It turns out that, after testing, she suffered from a complex migraine whose symptoms often mimic a stroke. Now, Branson tells the Associated Press for the first time about the ordeal. It began with a “really bad headache.” "At around 10 o'clock that night I was sitting in the live truck with my field producer and the photographer and I was starting to look at some of my notes," she said. "I started to think, the words on the page are blurry and I could notice that my thoughts were not forming the way they normally do." She went ahead with the broadcast anyway: “As soon as I opened my mouth I knew something was wrong. I was having trouble . remembering the word for Grammy. I knew what I wanted to say but I didn't have the words to say it."