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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To feel sorry for hoax call Djs

100 replies

PearlyWhites · 10/12/2012 14:02

I don't agree with the hoax call, they didn't think it through but no one could have foreseen what was to happen.

OP posts:
Witchety · 10/12/2012 14:04

They couldn't forsee causing some sort of distress to someone along the way?

MrsSantasCervix · 10/12/2012 14:06

I agree, no one could have foresaw such a terrible tragedy. They thought they would get hung up on and that would be that. They didn't realize how far it would go. It does however go to show that pranks should not be played on people you don't know as you don't know how vulnerable they may be. It's clear for most people that they did not enter into it with the intent to cause harm.

Original poster
PearlyWhites · 10/12/2012 14:06

Embarrassment yes and that's why I don't agree but not that she would kill herself

OP posts:
Witchety · 10/12/2012 14:07

So it's ok to cause 'embarrassment''?

Original poster
PearlyWhites · 10/12/2012 14:08

Apparently the DJ's have received death threats I wonder how the people making the threats would feel if one of the DJ's killed themselves

OP posts:
Witchety · 10/12/2012 14:09

Sorry, I have previously also worked alongside prominent royals. I would have been mortified by this too. Great, great care is taken with every detail along the chain....

Sallyingforth · 10/12/2012 14:09

I don't feel in the least sorry at all. They thought they were being so clever and it backfired. This 'distressed' act to get public sympathy doesn't wash at all. Just crocodile tears.

Original poster
PearlyWhites · 10/12/2012 14:09

No witches it's not ok that why I don't agree but it doesn't deserve the witchunt

OP posts:
legoballoon · 10/12/2012 14:13

Personally I agree with Pearlywhites - what has happened is awful, but the DJs had no way of anticipating that outcome.

The media are hypocritical. We're all supposed to get our knickers in a twist about a new royal baby blah blah, there are acres of coverage of Kate's pregnancy vomiting, but then when 2 DJs do a spoof call (and they couldn't have expected to be taken seriously as Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth with their mock British-cum-Sydney accents) they are suddenly Public Enemy No.1?

I'd like to know what sort of bollocking the hospital management gave their staff after the call was made. And without knowing the wider circumstances surrounding the situation, impossible to lay all the blame at those 2 Aussies' feet.

Witchety · 10/12/2012 14:28

So why do it ?

Witchety · 10/12/2012 14:29

What gives them the right to phone a busy hospital for a bit of fun? They are grown adults.... And presumably taught at a young age that actions have consequences? No?

FivesGoldNorks · 10/12/2012 14:31

They had no way of knowing how well or badly the person they hoaxes would take it. So why does that make it ok. If I fire a gun in a crowded room I have no way of knowing if ill injure someone but it's a fair bet I will.
Crocodile tears was what came to mind when I heard it too.

NellyBluth · 10/12/2012 14:39

I hate prank calls, I don't find them funny and I think that someone always ends up embarrassed at the very least, upset and hurt most of the rest of the time.

However, no matter how bad taste the call was, I don't believe there was any way they could have anticipated these events would happen. No one could have; it is unbelievably tragic but it just isn't something anyone could have predicted.

I expect they thought they'd make the call, 'lark' around doing silly impressions of the Queen and Prince Charles and get hung up on by the receptionist, and that was all they expected out of the call.

I agree, YANBU, I feel sorry for them too. They just couldn't have foreseen that this would happen. So while I know what you mean, witchety, and I agree that it is just not funny to call a busy hospital with a prank call, I don't see how this tragic outcome could have been foreseen as a possible consequence.

If anything it is the media's fault for hyping it up so much and making such a massive story out of it.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 10/12/2012 14:40

There is already a large thread on this topic which become quite difficult in places.

shesariver · 10/12/2012 14:41

I dont see how you can claim its crocodile tears - none of us know the DJs mental state, especially given the scale of the public rage directed towards them now. The producers of the show which gave the OK for the call to be aired, despite not having permission seem to be getting off scot free as far as blame is directed.

Auberginestripes · 10/12/2012 14:41

Was a stupid, unwise and tasteless prank. But that's all it was. They DO NOT have blood on their hands, how absolutely disgusting for anyone to suggest that.

If St James' Palace had chosen not to release the information about where Kate was being treated, the prank call would never have been made in the first place. Why did the Palace not have a member of staff in place to field all calls and enquiries to the hospital? How deeply unfair for nursing staff to have to field those calls. Think William and Harry need to get their staff in order asap.

Thinking of Jacintha Saldanha and her family. What an absolute tragedy.

legoisannoying · 10/12/2012 14:46

YANBU they couldn't of know.

manicinsomniac · 10/12/2012 15:06

YANBU, I felt very very sorry for them, watching that interview. They both seemed like nice, genuine people who made a tragic error of judgement.

Before Saldanha killed herself (if she did? don't know if it's been confirmed. Personally I find it hard to believe) the general opinion seemed to be 'The DJs were stupid and the nurses were stupid.' Now it's more like 'The DJs were evil and the nurses were victims.'

But the only thing that has changed is somebody's (possible) response, NOT the act or the intention behind it.

SantaWearsGreen · 10/12/2012 15:46

Obviously the extreme and tragic circumstances couldn't possibly have been predicted. However they are fully grown adults and they are aware that with every action there is a reaction. They knew that doing this would cause embarrassment at the very least to the nurse they spoke to, they still did it.

They did it for a laugh, it isn't funny. In no way is what they did amusing and thinking it would be is an absolutely stupid decision on their part. It would have caused distress to both the nurse who took the call (who could have even been fired lets not forget!) and Kate and Wills who should be celebrating the wonderful news (and Kate should be focusing on staying healthy) regardless.

They were idiots. I'm not saying they deserve a witch hunt but yeah they do deserve firing and yes they should feel disgusted with themselves. Pranks aren't funny, well unless you are five.

Sallyingforth · 10/12/2012 15:47

I felt very very sorry for them, watching that interview.

You were meant to. They are professional presenters, skilled at projecting a point of view. And they had days to prepare it.

Nancy66 · 10/12/2012 15:53

they're radio DJs for fuck's sake - not method school actors

YuleBritannia · 10/12/2012 15:58

I don't feel sorry for them. I don't feel sorry for anyone who causes embarrasment or humiliation or worse.

What about some of those You Tube films where people are 'surprised' in public or in a lift? They jump in amazement, looking incredulous. A bit like those old Jeremy Beadle programmes can't remember what they were called. It would be so easy to cause a heart attack or some other effect. The whole thing is done to amuse others without thinking what possible consequences might be. A heart attack could cause a death as some of us know.

The nurse probaboly felt stupid, humiliated and embarrassed. How could she face people in this country if it were know that she had taken the call?

We hear all about the 'counselling' that the DJs are receiving but what about the help that the nurse's family is getting? A husband has lost his wife and children have lost their mother. Perhaps parents have lost their child too. We should be thinking of them not foreign DJs. Charity begins at home and all that.

diddl · 10/12/2012 16:08

I don´t feel sorry for them.

They couldn´t have foreseen it-no.

But what should that matter?

Who thinks that it´s funny to tie up a hospital line for a prank?

LtXmasEve · 10/12/2012 16:12

I don't feel sorry for them. They made a prank call TO A HOSPITAL. That they thought that would be a good idea beggars belief - on what planet would that EVER be a good idea.

No, they couldn't have forseen that someone would kill themselves over it - but it wouldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility that someone would be sacked, or humiliated over it.

What they did was stupid, irresponsible and WRONG. There is no getting over that. They shouldn't be on TV defending themselves, and whining that "They couldn't have known this would happen". They should have the balls to admit how terrible and wrong what they did was, to condemn their own actions, to promise never to make a prank call again, and to make a large donation (personally or via the radio station) to a charity of the family's choice.

I hate pranks, I hate practical jokes. they aren't funny. They are at the expense of the victim and cause distress and humiliation.

YuleBritannia · 10/12/2012 16:17

LtXmasEve What about their donation going to the family? What sort of Christmas will they have? The DJs will just swan off to a beach somewhere and laugh everything off with their mates.