CBS News anchor gets roasted for saying cardinals are 'rawdogging' papal conclave (2025)

Tony Dokoupil picked the wrong moment to try out some new slang,

The CBS Mornings co-anchor is catching some heat after making a colorful comment about the papal conclave, the ongoing process that sees Catholic cardinals gather in Vatican City to select a new pope. Dokoupil's ill-timed joke came during the network's Wednesday broadcast (starting at 1 hour, 10 minutes, and 56 seconds in the video below), while papal contributor John Allen was running down the norms of the process.

"Most of them will tell you that while [voting is] going on, they’re sitting reading their breviary, that’s a book of prayers that clergy have, or praying a rosary," Allen said of the cardinals. "The one thing we know they’re not doing is checking Instagram because their devices have all been confiscated."

That's when Dokoupil chimed in: "I believe the kids call it 'rawdogging it,'" he said. "If you’re gonna go through a long period of time with no electronic device."

His panel — including Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher and co-anchors Norah O’Donnell, Maurice DuBois, Seth Doane, and Chris Livesay — immediately began snickering at Dokoupil's use of the innuendo, which usually refers to sex without a condom.

Gallagher then got things back on track, pointing out that since the youngest of the cardinals is 44, time away from their screens shouldn't be too hard. "They’re of a certain age, so they might be used to it," she said.

Despite her best efforts, Gallagher's segue wasn't quick enough to stop social media users from fixating on Dokoupil's phrasing.

"Kinda gross that CBS is using rawdogging like that," wrote one X user.

“I’m going to have to ask CBS to never allow the word ‘rawdogging’ on their airwaves again," wrote another.

"I had to explain to my mom what rawdogging was," complained one viewer. "And now I will have to explain to my grandmother thanks CBS."

One user said the network was "severely lacking in class," while another wondered whether Dokoupil knew the "origin of that term" before he said it.

"It’s been one hell of a year for Tony Dokoupil," joked another.

Earlier this year, Dokoupil took part in an awkward exchange with The White Lotus star Jason Isaacs, who got upset when asked whether prosthetics were used in his full-frontal nudity scene. Isaacs dodged the questions and claimed that the hosts would not be asking about genitalia prosthetics if he were a woman.

"I think if prosthetics were standard with actresses, we would ask," Dokoupil replied.

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Isaacs sniped back, "What is your obsession with it? Are you having therapy? Mike White is a brilliant writer. It's the best series on television, for a long time. What is the obsession with penises? It's an odd thing."

More recently, Dokoupil had another interview go awry when he asked former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, 73, about the age-difference between him and his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.

Hudson immediately shut him down, saying that Belichick wouldn’t be answering that question.

In a voiceover, Dokoupil said, "It’s a topic neither one of them is comfortable commenting on."