Geraldo Rivera Admits There's 'Some Embarrassment' Looking Back at Flubbed Live Attempt to Reach Al Capone's Vault 40 Years Ago

Angela AndaloroWed, April 22, 2026 at 8:06 PM UTC

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Geraldo Rivera at the Lexington Hotel in "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults"Credit: Steve Kagan/Getty -

In April 1986, Geraldo Rivera hosted The Mystery Of Al Capone’s Vaults on Tribune Entertainment

The live special was supposed to share a look at unearthing treasures from a gangster's vault, but failed to deliver during the reveal

Rivera looks back at the career moment, which garnered controversy but was the highest-rated TV special of that year, 40 years later

One of Geraldo Rivera's biggest career moments was born out of a major letdown.

On April 21, 1986, Rivera hosted a live syndicated television special, The Mystery Of Al Capone’s Vaults. The special began as a documentary about Al Capone and gangsters of the Prohibition era and ventured into a previously walled-off underground room at the Lexington Hotel in Chicago, where Capone was said to do business.

The idea was likened to a national version of unearthing an ancient Egyptian tomb and expected to fascinate audiences. Major networks passed on the stunt because the outcome was unpredictable, a decision that proved its folly when about 30 million viewers tuned in to see the opening, which revealed a mostly empty room containing only debris and a few empty bottles.

Rivera closed the broadcast by sharing, "We didn’t find the hollow spaces we were led to believe were in there. Sorry.”

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The journalist, 82, spoke with NewsNation about the moment, looking back on the anticlimactic conclusion to the highly rated event.

“It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, when we opened the damn vault … the vault was empty," Rivera shared. “They’re still talking about it. I think that that’s an accomplishment, even if they inscribe it on my tombstone.”

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The moment came at a pivotal time in Rivera's career, when he was coming off his firing from ABC News and starting a new chapter.

With distance from the moment, Rivera says he feels “bemusement, some embarrassment,” and “a little bit of pride."

In a 2025 oral history of the moment for Mental Floss, Rivera recalled the intense moment, sharing, "It was an old building. I do not recall fearing it would collapse on my head. I was much more engaged emotionally with finding something. Later, I maybe would’ve liked for it to fall on my head."

When it was over, "All of the construction guys went and got drunk with me."

What astonished everyone involved was the ratings results the following day. Allan Grafman, Vice President of Tribune Entertainment at the time the special aired, said, “We thought it would do a 20. It did a 35. It was an enormous, colossal success. Nationally, we outperformed the networks —The Cosby Show, Family Ties."

Former Tribune president Sheldon Cooper added, "The show played later on the West Coast and that was amazing. Even though the news was out, it still got phenomenal ratings."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”