Miscellaneous Celebrity News

[KatesMom]

As a layperson, I would contemplate that a prank call like the one that was made, would cause the hospital staff member, if they were fooled, a loss of job, bad mark on their professional career and lifetime regret over such public humiliation. This is taking into account the huge love by the public for the young royal couple. I think it is reasonable that the DJ's would have also had that same anticipation. So, knowing that, I would have declined to do the prank based on those anticipations alone.

The DJs and the radio station are driven by the same things that TV shows are - listening audience, which translates into advertising dollars. If people don't listen, the advertisers don't buy air space. These DJs were looking for the next great catch to get more viewers to tune in - just like TV shows are constantly upping the ante, and photogs are taking more and more risks for "that picture". At the end of the day it is all about us (not us specifically, but the general public). If we stop, so will they. So who is really to blame in all of this? That is why the media is in such a frenzy and we are hearing daily updates on Kate. Because the general public is eating it up. Yes, this prank went horribly wrong. What if it hadn't? Even when the topless photos were taken from about a mile away, there were those saying Kate should have known better. Bottom line is these people are public figures and there are those in the public who think they are entitled to know anything and everything about them. As long as those people are driving the bus, this stuff will continue.

[bee stung lips]

Another thing came across my mind: People always want to blame somebody when a suicide happens; they need to blame somebody....anybody except the deceased. There are things about this unfortunate demise that people will never know. Is it possible that "somebody else" may know something and will never have to talk about it because the attention is glaring on another person (people), or situation? There is no reason for anyone else to take any kind of heat if they don't have to. It's convenient to stay quiet. Suicides can be very complicated....placing blame can be very easy but not necessarily accurate.

Just speculation.

I am so with you on this. As soon as something tragic like this happens, there's an immediate scramble to try and come up with someone to blame, not matter how indirect they may or may not be to the situation. To each his or her own, but I just cannot get with this notion that the DJ's should be blamed for something the woman took upon herself. It was, after all, just a silly prank call. And not even a particularly good one at that. It's just non sensical of people to blame the DJ's for this. Anyone can choose to act any way in which they please. Unfortunately, the woman chose to end her own life. That was her choice.

What kind of slippery slope are we sliding down, anyway? I shudder to think of types of things people will be blamed for regarding people's suicides in the future, if this is the path we're heading down.

The part that gets me the most is, this business of questioning whether or not the DJ's did anything illegal in placing the prank call to begin with. Since when was a prank call illegal? Regardless of how silly they might be, this rush to judgement and scurrying about to investigate what happened, if it was illegal etc., is blowing things way out of proportion.

This woman quite obviously had other issues in her life she was dealing with that even her own family may not have been privy to and it is sad to think she saw suicide as her only way out. I absolutely refuse to believe that a prank phone call was the cause of her ending her own life. The act of suicide is too huge, and too final and desvastating an act in and of itself, to have been brought on by something as trivial as a prank phone call.

I read on one site where people were calling for criminal charges to be filed against the DJ's for the woman's suicide. Really? I mean seriously?

[Miss Scarlet]

The "prank" by the DJ's was just plain wrong & mean, not to mention dangerous. Especially since Kate was to the point of needing hospitalization.
But the suicide wasn't their fault. The nurse chose this on her own. She was in no way encouraged or goaded into it by the DJ's.
She made a mistake & for some reason couldn't live with her own actions.

Whether she had other issues & this was just the last straw, or it was a bad decision based on this one action, we just don't know. But in the end, suicide is a choice. She chose it over those she left behind.

I've known people who chose suicide, and people who were the ones left behind. I know what it does to the ones left & it isn't pretty. They blame themselves & are nagged by wondering if they could have done anything to keep the person from doing it, if only they had paid more attention. It goes on for many years, if not lifetimes.

In the end it's no one's fault but the person who choses it. And that's what it is - A Choice. It's a selfish act. The victims are the ones left behind.

[KatesMom]

What kind of slippery slope are we sliding down, anyway? I shudder to think of types of things people will be blamed for regarding people's suicides in the future, if this is the path we're heading down.

The part that gets me the most is, this business of questioning whether or not the DJ's did anything illegal in placing the prank call to begin with. Since when was a prank call illegal? Regardless of how silly they might be, this rush to judgement and scurrying about to investigate what happened, if it was illegal etc., is blowing things way out of proportion.

I generally agree with what you have said, but just wanted to comment on the two paragraphs I left:

1. On the first - what about bullying? Where does that fit in, in your thoughts? And again, I'm not disagreeing with you, but I don't think it is black and white, either.

2. On the legal question. Generally, I would agree with you on prank phone calls. But, there are exceptions - like when you prank phone call a bomb threat or a fire. Also, when you are typically prank phone called, you don't expect it to make it on TV or radio and then be blasted around the world. There are laws with regard to expectation of privacy and taping a third person's voice. That is where I think the legal issues come in here, if at all. Now because this was a call to a business, it might not be an issue. But I just wanted to point out some of the questions IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.

[Fanny Mare]

I think this women thought she bought shame and dishonour to her family.It isn't not the first time I have heard of this. Sad, but true

[bee stung lips]

I generally agree with what you have said, but just wanted to comment on the two paragraphs I left:

1. On the first - what about bullying? Where does that fit in, in your thoughts? And again, I'm not disagreeing with you, but I don't think it is black and white, either.

2. On the legal question. Generally, I would agree with you on prank phone calls. But, there are exceptions - like when you prank phone call a bomb threat or a fire. Also, when you are typically prank phone called, you don't expect it to make it on TV or radio and then be blasted around the world. There are laws with regard to expectation of privacy and taping a third person's voice. That is where I think the legal issues come in here, if at all. Now because this was a call to a business, it might not be an issue. But I just wanted to point out some of the questions IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE.

There were actually a couple of DJ's here in Canada, Montreal, if I recall correctly, who placed a prank phone call to some high ranking official (can't remember if it was to Buckingham Palace - someone can correct me if I'm wrong) or something like that a few years ago, and it made the international news, so think particular case is not necessarily unique and everyone went on about how clever they were to be able to dupe them the way they. DJ's get their jollies out of this sort of thing.

I'd mentioned in an earlier post in this thread when someone drew the comparison between this prank call situation and bullying, that I don't think the two can be compared. Bullying is the act of directly intend to harm someone whether via verbal abuse, threats, or physical abuse. And in such cases, I think at the very least, people should be found liable for proven instances of bullying leading to deaths, suicides etc. Most definitely. Bullying is one of the cruelest things one human being can do to another.

Regarding your comment about fire or bomb threats, I'd actually thought about those scenarios and how this situation, in my opinion might be different had the prank call been regarding either of these. I can see how either of those would have played to the nurse's fears. Possibly she'd have been worried for the safey of herself and of others. Also, someone suffering from anxiety issues could very well go over the edge in a similiar circumstance. In that case, my opinion would be totally different.

Also, say, for instance, the DJ's had called the hospital and specifically asked to speak with that nurse, and then embarassed on on the air by telling her they had some "background dirt" on her from her past that they'd dug up on her, again, my opinion would have been different toward the DJ's.

In my opinion, the aforementioned scenarios differ so drastically from the DJ's phoning up the hospital and inquriing about "Kate's tummy ache" using terrible British accents. I just find it really hard to believe that their was any harmful intent there other than, getting a good laugh out of the situation.

[MiaT2]

Quite frankly I think these types of pranks are a form of bullying. We abhor bullying in other aspects of our society so why should it be acceptable when it's for public entertainment?

With everything you hear today about kids being bullied in school, one of the most prevalent is that the kids finally kill themselves because due to the overwhelming prevalence of social media and the like, they are unable to escape their tormenters. Much like this woman's situation - her voice, her actions, her life was being broadcast around the globe without her consent. If we think it made headlines here, imagine the scrutiny in GB.

Bullying is public intimidation and shaming and these moronic radio pranks are no different.


ETA: Bee stung lips - I respectfully disagree with you with regards to the intent of these DJs. To provide amusement to yourself at the expense of another is a form of bullying. Just because they and all the other dumb DJs that do similar stunts find it hilarious, does NOT mean that the recipient/unwilling participant does. Also - they couldn't have been so idiotic to think that there wouldn't have been any possible career ramifications for this nurse? She could have been fired or reprimanded and for them to think that putting someone in that position is okay shows they are morally low. They didn't care what happened to her or whoever they ended up speaking with. They only cared about themselves, their ratings, their show, their popularity. Much like every bully out there.

[chrisg]

The DJ's in the water tragedy, and the DJ's of the prank call were most definitely irresponsible, yes, but i don't think they should be held accountable for either of the deaths in these situations.

I believe people are responsible for their own irresponsibility. Full stop.

Calling attention to that admitted irresponsibility is not the same thing as saying the DJ's were 100% responsible for someone's death. They are, however, responsible for their own irresponsibility.

And, when people act irresponsibly, things can indirectly spiral out of control. Indirectly, yes, but spiraling out of control nevertheless.

And, when people act more responsibly, there is less of chance of things spiraling out of control, indirectly, which is a constructive objective to aim for, at least as far as I am concerned.

People also do not run their suicides past a committee to see if it is an acceptable reason to commit suicide according to other people's standards, beliefs or criteria -- and they sometimes decide to do so impulsively. In this case we do not know definitively what role this incident played for certain, which means it cannot be stated this incident could not have been the sole reason behind it any more than it can be definitively stated that it had everything to do with it. We just don't know for sure but the timing is a logical, factual indicator that there is strong possibility that it played some role and that is troubling to me for the reasons specifically stated above.

I believe in supporting a society that strives to evolve and I believe that, in order to do that, we should constructively seek to avoid irresponsible words and actions in the public domain that can indirectly spiral out of control. Toward that end, cruel pranks with a clear goal of tricking and humiliating people in public aren't necessary in order to be funny.

[Critical]

The radio show has been canceled. TMZ reported that those DJ's have a history of pranks that have gone wrong:

2DayFM's "Kyle and Jackie O" show aired a segment called "Desperate Acts" back in 2009 ... where a listener was given $1,000 to call her sister and convince her their mother was injured, bleeding, and in need of medical attention.

It worked ... the sister called 911 and sent paramedics speeding to the mother, who was totally fine.

That hoax prompted a police investigation.

Later in 2009 ... Kyle and Jackie O hooked up a teenager to a lie detector while her mother grilled her about her sex life. The stunt blew up in their faces when the girl suddenly revealed she had been raped when she was 12.

That segment led to another police investigation, and got the DJs a week-long suspension.

Additionally, 2DayFM has reportedly been on probation multiple times for violating Australia's broadcast code.

For the whole article: Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment News | Celebrity News | TMZ.com

Now, TMZ is crying hypocrisy about the station pulling the show, but I'm not sure. While the stunts above were serious, they didn't result in someone killing themselves. It all just comes back to what I posted about upthread: it doesn't matter what their intention was. Things don't happen in a vacuum and you can't predict how someone will react. Like I (and someone else) mentioned uptherad as well, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the nurse could have been fired - we've seen it happen before in cases of confidentiality breaches at hospitals. They had to have known that, but didn't care. Sorry, but I can't consider anything a harmless prank - even in the planning stages - if it has the potential to get an innocent person fired.

I'm sure those DJ's ARE crying their eyes out, but not out of remorse over anything but how it affected THEM financially.

ETA: Also, according to TMZ, that "prank" was signed off on by the bosses, so they shouldn't get off scott free either.

[prhoshay]

I think that impulsivity can only be determined from suicide survivors. You have NO imuplsivity determinations from the people who are successful at doing what they think they want to get done. It's all a big guess, at that point. Yeah....sometimes reality bites.

We cannot control everything that people decide to do. That's life.