Crazy Days and Nights: Kate Middleton Pregnancy Prank DJ To Appear At Inquest of Suicide Victim

Monday, April 29, 2013

Kate Middleton Pregnancy Prank DJ To Appear At Inquest of Suicide Victim

Mel Greig was one of the two Australian DJ's who called the hospital where Kate Middleton was admitted and got a nurse to admit details of Kate's pregnancy by posing as Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth. The woman who transferred the call later committed suicide. A British prosecutor said there was not enough evidence to indict the two DJ's on manslaughter charges, but Mel has agreed to appear during the inquest hearing to help determine the cause of death. It has been revealed that the woman who committed suicide left behind three suicide notes. One of the notes blames the Australian DJ's.

46 comments:

Cathy6:31 AM
These dj's are scum-of-the-earth assholes who never should have pulled this prank in the first place, but to charge them with manslaughter is ridiculous.
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Tyler6:35 AM
I wonder if the nurse's family has sufficient grounds for a civil suit.
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auntliddy6:42 AM
What a mess. This is why these so called shock jocks are completely unfunny.
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SusanB6:42 AM
@phoenix - not sure of British law, but if it had happened here, I think they would - against each DJ individually and also the radio station that was their employer.
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Melissa6:48 AM
Am I the only one who remembers how DJs used to prank call and pretend to be other people all the time?! Was it in poor taste? Sure. But making a prank call does not cause a person to commit suicide. They shouldn't have been fired, they should have been reprimanded. They are not responsible for this woman's death.
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Tyler6:49 AM
Thanks SusanB. I think they're entitled to some compensation, and I generally take a dim view of things like that, but they crossed a line invading Kate's privacy while hospitalized for a maternity related emergency.
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Now!6:50 AM
@SusanB, I don't agree that there are grounds for a lawsuit.

Had they intentionally and maliciously libeled her - for example, if their 'prank' had involved suggesting she had a criminal record when she did not - she might have been able to collect cash damages equivalent to the amount that the 'prank' damaged her career.

But their 'prank' was in no way directed at her. It was unfortunate that they unintentionally involved a mentally unstable woman in their unfunny joke, yet they had no way to foresee that it might be so dangerous - the way someone who drinks and drives can foresee that it might be deadly.

The lady was clearly troubled, as is clear from the fact that only one of her three notes mentioned the DJs. I believe there were also several previous suicide attempts.
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Cathy6:55 AM
@phoenix - yes, they crossed a line in invading KATE'S privacy, but that has nothing to do with the nurse.
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Ms Cool6:56 AM
I agree with Cathy. They are dumbasses but she had to be a bit crazy to commit suicide because of this. Sounds like it was the tipping point.
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xoApril6:57 AM
They should be held accountable for attempting to obtain confidential information, but not for the suicide. We all have choices, and shame on that woman for blaming anyone else for her mental health issues.
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audrey6:59 AM
If this was the nurse who had divulged the info on Katherine, I may feel differently, but all this woman did was transfer a call to the right extension. Yes it was a childish, and stupid prank that shouldn't have happened, but I am totally at a loss as to why someone who merely picked up the phone, hit a button to redirect a call felt the need to end her life and blame someone else for her decision.
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Tyler7:00 AM
It had everything to do with her, because the DJ's publicly made a fool of her for putting the call through, and I think it's fair to say she wouldn't have committed suicide over it otherwise.
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xoApril7:02 AM
@phoenix - is that fair to say?
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Cathy7:03 AM
I disagree, pheonix. The only person here with any legal grounds to sue is Kate, since it was her privacy that was invaded. Do you think that if another nurse answered the phone and connected the call, that nurse would have commit suicide too? I highly doubt it. This prank was in bad taste and they certainly deserve to lose their jobs over it, but the nurse obviously had other issues going on.
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Unknown7:10 AM
@Cathy +1
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Tyler7:12 AM
@xoApril, what I meant is if she hadn't been involved in the incident, and if that incident hadn't been broadcast for public ridicule, she had no reason to feel upset or personally responsible.
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Tyler7:13 AM
OK, maybe she had issues, but the DJ's crossed a line they shouldn't have or things wouldn't have played out how they did. That's all I'm saying.
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Cathy7:28 AM
The nurse attempted suicide TWICE in 2011 - if this prank hadn't happened, it's quite likely that something else would have happened to cause her to attempt suicide again.
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Tyler7:38 AM
Often times attempts are really cries for help or they would have succeeded, and the fact of the matter is, those DJ's had everything to do with pushing her over the edge once and for all.
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Cathy7:39 AM
But it's not their fault that she was on the edge to begin with! Prior to the prank, she was classified as "high suicide risk" - they had no way of knowing that.
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Tyler7:44 AM
There is no justification for what they did, even apart from being the catalyst for that nurse's suicide. I have no sympathy for them.
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Cathy7:45 AM
I don't have sympathy for them either, but to charge them with manslaughter is absolutely ridiculous.
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Tyler7:48 AM
Ohhh, lol. I don't think they should be charged with a crime. Sorry if I gave that impression. I am in favor of the family being awarded financial compensation in civil court though.
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Susan7:54 AM
I have a hard time blaming anyone when a person decides to take his or her own life. Charging them with manslaughter is ridiculous.

I don't support shock jock djs - stern, opie and anthony, etc., etc., - so I don't listen to them. The end. Clearly, there is a market for these stupid pranks, so it's going to carry on.

And sidenote, I'm sure many of you growing up in the era before caller ID were privy to receiving and making a fair share of prank calls. Good times....
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Cathy7:55 AM
I don't think the family deserves financial compensation in civil court either. The prank was stupid, but it alone did not drive her to suicide. It also bothers me that in the one suicide note (out of three) where she blames them, she actually wrote, "make them pay my mortgage."
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timebob 7:58 AM
The radio station put 500K in trust for the children. I think she was just timebomb (no pun intended but keeping it) waiting to explode. The dj's just lit the match to the fuse.

Even if it was a case of wrong place wrong time. Hospitals should have better training in place for high profile patients. I blame the hospital.
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Tyler8:03 AM
@timebob, that's great what the station did. I like it even better that they did it of their own accord. Thanks for letting us know.
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xoApril8:03 AM
It's impossible to know this moment drove her over the edge. No one commits suicide over one moment, it is a build of of pressures and issues and the deterioration of ones mental health.
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__-__=__8:18 AM
On L&O don't they call this depraved indifference? And making prank calls? No, never. I never found bothering or confounding other humans amusing. I played outside when I was a kid. The phone was a tool, not a toy. Different times.
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Cathy8:36 AM
Depraved indifference requires that it presents a very high risk of death to others, which this did not...
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Lioness708:47 AM
There was no way these assholes could have known about this nurse being a suicide risk.

Wonder why the hospital employed her in the first place if she was that unstable.
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NomNom838:59 AM
Maybe b/c I'm American, I have a hard time understanding the strong opinions that place blame on the DJs for her death. No mentally well person would kill him or herself over a prank like this.

Others have mentioned her previous suicide attempts -- something no stranger could have guessed. Nor could they have anticipated the media coverage that would ensue.

So, speaking of blame, who blew up this incident? Who made it THE story for an entire week? Who recounted every single detail over and over and over again, repeatedly naming this woman? The DJs who make a, what, fifteen minute prank phone call? Or the British media that whips up an outrageous amount of coverage and hysteria over anything related to the royals?

How come, alongside the "KATE IS PREGGERS!" stories, they weren't all writing entire columns defending thsi woman, telling people to cut her some slack, that anyone could have made the same mistake and then piled on two entertainers thousands of miles away BEFORE she died? Even as an American and occasional tourist, I know the British rags are MERCILESS.

This woman's death was tragic and unnecessary,but to point two specific people as the culprits ignores her medical history and a tabloid culture that chewed her up and spit her out overnight.
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__-__=__9:36 AM
I think you also have to take into account how many people have paychological issues. Is it really safe anymore to assume strangers you're dealing with are mentally stable? I sure don't - especially driving! Folks are whack these days!!
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Beth9:39 AM
She chose to take her own life. She hurt her own family and no one should be held liable. Kate had her confidentiality violated which is against the law.

I think it's generous of the radio station to put aside $500K for her children. It was an unfortunate incident, but they are not culpable for the nurse's death.
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Jennifer H.10:21 AM
This is stupid. These DJs didn't kill this woman and they didn't cause her to commit suicide, either. They are in absolutely no way responsible. As dramtic as it sounds, they did not "set off the chain of events" that culminated in that woman killing herself. She killed her self because she had mental health problems. Mentally healthy people don't kill themselves over a prank call from DJs. If she killed herself because she didn't correctly follow the privacy rules at her job, then maybe she should have followed those rules. As far as one of her letters blaming the DJs, that means nothing because she was mentally disturbed.

I don't even think this was even an "assholish" prank call. Roy D. Mercer's calls are way worse, as well as thousands of other DJs out there. They were just doing their jobs. I don't even think they should have been reprimanded for it. Until the suicide, I'm sure they were getting slaps on the back from management for their brilliant prank call. Their chicken shit station should have stood behind them.

I have a question. When this happened, I recall everyone thinking, quite logically, that the woman who committed suicide was the same one we heard from the radio broadcast who actually gave out the Kate's details. But, wasn't it actually the woman who just answered the phone and transferred the call? How is the woma who gave out the information, I wonder? On her death bed? Or maybe just going on with her life because she's not mentally ill?
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SoggyCrunch10:57 AM
I think they should be held liable for impersonating someone else and gaining access to medical information.
I do not think they should be held liable for anything to do with the nurses death though. She was mentally ill and unstable and if it wasn't this, it could have been anything that pushed her over the edge.
I think Kate has more reason to be upset at them than the nurses family.
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califblondy10:58 AM
While the prank was dumb the DJs are not responsible for this woman's death.
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Diana12:02 PM
So stupid. They are not responsible for the actions of others. No one is. People need to take responsibility for themselves and stop acting like pieces of shit. Man up, people.
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CK7612:16 PM
@Jennifer, slightly OT, did you hear that Phil Stone who voiced Roy D Mercer died? :(
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Anonymous12:22 PM
idk. Manslaughter? thats a bit too much. Its a suicide she should be help responsible for her own death, it was a choice
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feraltart2:17 PM
When this first happened I was really disgusted with the DJ's. Now that I am aware of her previous suicide attempts I too wonder what she was doing in such a high pressure occupation. Still not a fan of crank calls, but it sits ill with me that she wrote the DJ's should pay her mortgage. Ultimately her family is suffering due to her own actions. One good thing to come out of this is the dialogue about mental illness. Sorry that my post is a bit rambling, just processing what I think about the situation. Don't think the DJ's should be charged as they did not have malicious intent when they made the call.
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Scott8:41 PM
All that the woman who killed herself did was transfer the call to Kate's room. They said about four words to her. The real culprit here is mental illness.
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