Geraldo tweets nearly nude selfie, then loses late-night bravado

Oh, Geraldo, did you have to chicken out? If you’re going to make a statement — in your case, a semi-nude statement — you should stick with it!

Geraldo Rivera showed his bold self, and nearly his whole self, in a semi-nude selfie photo he tweeted out early Sunday morning, barely towel-clad way below the waist.

The caption? “70 is the new 50. (Erica and family are going to be so pissed...but at my age...)�

Erica, FYI, is his wife of 10 years. And if that weren’t enough ...

Then he deleted the picture.

Now, where’s the fun in that?

PHOTOS: Celebrity meltdowns

“Note to self: no tweeting after 1am,� Rivera noted in the safe zone that is Sunday afternoon, apparently remembering that he had in fact turned 70 on July 4, and 70-year-old guys typically don’t tweet selfies at all, much less manscape-revealing ones.

But the damage was done, the “Geraldo at Large� host’s bathroom experience captured forever in the vortex known as the Internet. And, yeah, TV too. See the shot in the video above.

If you dare.

(Incidentally, Glenn Beck, Rivera’s former cohort at Fox News, fought back with a selfie of his own, captioned, “Okay 49 isn’t 70. But still - check out my bathroom towel pic! Sorry ladies I just can’t turn this off!� With it came a picture of Beck not only clad, but over-clad. Thank goodness for small favors.)

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