Daily Mail
Australian DJs behind royal phone prank now need bodyguards
Managers at Southern Cross Austereo – the parent company of 2Day FM – have recruited 24-bodyguards for their protection and police are investigation death threats.
One of the threats arrived yesterday is alleged to specifically target DJ Michael Christian saying there are ‘bullets out there with your name on’ and further threats involving a shotgun.
According to news.com.au, 10 senior staff have now got personal protection costing $75,000 a week and around 12 staff have been moved to hotels.
Blowback
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Good lord.
rbj on December 14, 2012 at 4:28 PM
The dead nurse is still unavailable to comment on this story.
Way back when, an effective tool in keeping social order and common decency was shame.
Then along comes LBJ, and suddenly nobody is responsible for what they do. “temporary insanity” is the one that gets my goat the most. “Yeah, I’m insane, but only when I kill people, and the law says I’m not responsible…you better run….I’m feeling a little kooky…”.
“Rehab” vice “you’re a drunk, get off the street”
“Correctional Facilities” vice “Penal Institutions”
etc…
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 4:29 PM
As you sow, so shall you reap.
tommy71 on December 14, 2012 at 4:33 PM
Of course, the nurse, who committed suicide, specifically cited the treatment that she had received by her CO-WORKERS following the prank-gone-horribly-wrong in her suicide note, but never expect the great Edward VII hospital to admit that the 8 SECONDS the nurse spent on the phone with two radio personalities might have had less to do with her death than the behaviour of the benevolent Mary Poppinses (see Olympics ceremony) employed by the NHS.
The nurse that committed suicide was NOT the one that disclosed ANY of the Duchess of Cambridge’s confidential information.
Resist We Much on December 14, 2012 at 4:39 PM
$75,000 a week should be a good behavior modifier. Goodonya!
a capella on December 14, 2012 at 4:39 PM
Probably a prank, and I’m sure they don’t mean any harm. Those DJs should just go about their lives as if nothing has happened. Hey, if you can’t take a joke, go hang yourself.
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 4:40 PM
there are ‘bullets out there with your name on’ and further threats involving a shotgun.
Paul-Cincy on December 14, 2012 at 4:43 PM
The DJs shouldn’t have done what they did, especially with a stranger. Now experience a bit of fear, and they’ll never do it again. Let them learn a lesson.
tommy71 on December 14, 2012 at 4:48 PM
You are an idiot. Those DJ’s are not responsible for this poor nurses actions. She obviously had some sort of mental instability. I’m surprised you didn’t recognize a kindred spirit.
Living4Him5534 on December 14, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Actions have consequences…. such an old fashioned notion!
Not everything in life is a joke. People, whether one knows them or not, are not fodder for idiotic follies. We have reached a deplorable low point in our cultures.
I have no sympathy for these fools. Let them learn their lessons. If it means living in fear, may that fear strike them in their hearts so strongly that they realize that others are not personal toys to be used and cast aside.
No sympathy here…. absolutely none. Pay the price and deal with it.
Cody1991 on December 14, 2012 at 5:03 PM
Oh come on. There are a lot of crazy monkeys in Australia but we’re supposed to believe there’s a vigilante horde, armed, willing and able, to take out two no-name DJs who played a prank on someone they don’t know 12,000 miles away?
Someone’s having a massive over-reaction or continuing to use this story to milk the publicity. As the Mail is the source, I’d say its just a riff on the hoax.
CorporatePiggy on December 14, 2012 at 5:03 PM
Pretending to be the Queen of England = Prank
Telling someone you’re going to kill them = Death Threat
Note that one holds the possibility of being funny, while the other does not. Note also that one could well result in murder while the other has no such foreseeable consequence. 20/20 hindsight is a useless talent.
RadClown on December 14, 2012 at 5:04 PM
You are a stupid person with a bad sense of humor.
Anti-Control on December 14, 2012 at 5:06 PM
I‘m not surprised, because tommy71 is clearly just too dumb to be able to recognize what they have in common!
Anti-Control on December 14, 2012 at 5:09 PM
Look here, folks. We’re privileged to be provided with the correct definition of what is and what is not funny. Right here at HotAir.
Just wondering….do you have a license or training in the funny business, or were you born with this gift?
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 5:12 PM
Yes. Somehow my sense of humor is hard to find today.
Cody1991 on December 14, 2012 at 5:13 PM
I guess that the DJ’s can’t carry their own weapons, since I believe the Aussies have all given in their guns. But then, they should be safe, since no criminals in Australia have guns.
SC.Charlie on December 14, 2012 at 5:14 PM
She was on the phone with the 2 radio presenters for 8 SECONDS.
She was not the nurse that disclosed ANY confidential information.
She ONLY put the call through to another nurse, who then told went on and on and on about the Duchess’ condition.
She wrote in her suicide note about the treatment that she received by her co-workers at her place of employment following the prank.
Listen, I am not defending the two presenters, but there are a few of things that we really have to keep in mind before we condemn these people to a life of fear in the mode of Salman Rushdie or Geert Wilders:
1. How foreseeable was it really for them that a nurse, with whom they only spoke 8 seconds, would commit suicide?
2. Are they responsible for what appears to be some bad behaviour on the part of the woman’s co-workers?
3. If the suicide was foreseeable consequence of the prank and the Eggshell Skull rule applies, wouldn’t the behaviour of the staff at the hospital be an intervening cause when it was specifically cited in the suicide note?
Resist We Much on December 14, 2012 at 5:17 PM
Just today, eh? That sounds like a (lame) rationalization, doesn’t it?
Not having sympathy for the prank callers who’ve received criminal death threats, knowing that they had no ill intent while they made their call, reveals what an ugly inner self you have – I’m very sorry if you don’t like hearing it.
Anti-Control on December 14, 2012 at 5:20 PM
Actually the King Edward VII is a private hospital (yes we do have them here in the UK plus private health insurance) and so the staff are not NHS….but then when did the actual facts of the matter stop someone like you from banging your bongoes
callingallcomets on December 14, 2012 at 5:21 PM
Check this out: Prank, or not?
Each of your questions can be asked here, yet “popular opinion” in these cases are very different.
The video didn’t cause the suicide; it was the shame and fear he knew was going to come to him from the other students.
So the question is: Did the DJs participate in a “cyberbullying”?
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 5:35 PM
RSM, I get all of that. Sometimes, however, it seems to me that it’s worth considering the value of a “joke” or looking for personal gain against an outcome.
Did these fools ever think to consider that they were stepping out beyond the bounds of common courtesy and respect for all who might be involved? Was the excitement of publicity too appealing to think about the others involved?
Apparently not. No, I have no sympathy for ‘shock jocks’ who enjoy pushing the limits. None.
Then, again, I am old fashioned. For some odd reason I believe that people are entitled to their privacy regardless of who they are. I like courteous people although they are a rare breed these days.
While some may enjoy debating the minutiae of the ensuing developments, all of this could have been avoided by adhering to the rules of common decency.
Cody1991 on December 14, 2012 at 5:36 PM
FIFY.
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 5:37 PM
RSM, one more thing. Kurt Wilders and Rushdie were put in harm’s way for entirely different reasons. They weren’t pranksters, but rather individuals expressing their views. Different circumstances.
Cody1991 on December 14, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Resist We Much on December 14, 2012 at 4:39 PM
You must know much more about what those notes actually said because, at present, it’s just press speculation…but maybe you are the coroner….
Press reports suggest that she left three notes, one which criticised staff members, one to her family and one referring to the prank call – so it would appear that they are still in the frame.
Of course the two DJ’s could not have foreseen the consequences of what they did. But nevertheless there were consequences and, if they are decent people, this event will weigh heavily on them for a very long time.
callingallcomets on December 14, 2012 at 5:39 PM
Well said, sir or ma’am
callingallcomets on December 14, 2012 at 5:43 PM
Errh….neither one was protected by the First Amendment, if that’s what you’re getting at.
BobMbx on December 14, 2012 at 5:47 PM
No, that’s not what I was getting at. Neither of them are American citizens, but that aside, my point was that they made their views public more as a matter of principle – one as a private citizen in England – Wilders as a Dutch politician. They are not DJ’s trying to have a bit of fun.
Cody1991 on December 14, 2012 at 5:55 PM
Well, when you write a ridiculously obtuse post, that’s what you should expect.
RadClown on December 14, 2012 at 6:34 PM