The incident took place during a São Paulo mayoral debate in 2024, when presenter and candidate José Luiz Datena struck fellow candidate Pablo Marçal with a chair after a tense exchange on live television. The footage spread rapidly across Brazilian social media, news coverage and messaging groups, where the chair throw became shorthand for a debate going completely out of control. It remains popular because the moment is both shocking and easy to recognise, and creators reuse it to signal that an argument has crossed a line.