Watch 2Day FM’s Mel Greig & Michael Christian First Interview Since Prank Ended In Suicide
December 11, 2012 by Hollywoodite
At the end of last week, a poorly-conceived “prank” call intended to waste the time of hospital administrators went horribly wrong when a nurse named Jacintha Saldanha took the call and transferred strangers to another nurse who doled out medical information. Days later, Saldanha committed suicide leaving behind a husband and two children.
The hosts of 2Day FM’s Hot 30 radio show, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, who conducted the call, went into hiding over the weekend after being fired from the station. Monday morning though, they gave their first interviews to Nine network’s A Current Affair that was “ unpaid and unedited.” It’s in full here.
In the segment, the hosts take varying levels of responsibility for what they did (place the call, stay on the line while being transferred, elicit confidential information, submit the recording to their bosses who cleared it with the station’s legal department, and aired it). They both minimise and ameliorate their actions as “harmless” while talking about their own feelings; as an observation, the late nurse’s feelings and the feelings of the nurse’s family seem to be an afterthought.
A Current Affair host Tracy Grimshaw asked how the idea even came about, to which Greig responded: ”We thought a hundred people before us would have tried it. We just thought it was such a silly idea, and the accents were terrible. Not for a second did we expect to even speak to Kate, let alone have a conversation with anyone at the hospital. We wanted to be hung up on.” Added Christian: ”We had the idea for a simple harmless call. A call that would go for 30 seconds that we thought we would be hung up on.”
Still insisting a prank that could have resulted in two nurses (the one who took the call and the one who gave out medical records) being fired before Christmas was “harmless,” Christian added: ”At every single point it was innocent on our behalf. It was something that was funny and lighthearted and a tragic turn of events that I don’t think could have predicted.”
Asked for their reaction to the suicide, Christian said: ”Shattered, gutted, heartbroken and obviously our deepest sympathies are with the family with the friends and all those affected. Obviously Mel and myself are incredibly sorry for this situation and what’s happened. And we hope that they’re doing okay and they’re getting the love and support that they need and deserve right now, but personally I’m… [begins crying] …gutted.” Grieg added: ”There’s not a minute that goes by that we don’t think about her family and what they must be going through and the thought that we may have played a part in that is gut-wrenching.” Also, Greig’s first question upon hearing the news was “Was she a mother?” Yes, Saldanha was a mother-of-two.
In a statement released Monday, 2Day FM’s parent company Southern Cross Austereo confirms it’s cancelling 2Day FM’s Hot 30 show; suspending all advertising on 2Day FM “until further notice”; implementing a company-wide suspension on prank phone calls; ordering a “comprehensive review of relevant company policies and processes.”
Southern Cross Austereo Media Statement
Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) are deeply saddened by the tragic news of the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha from King Edward VII’s Hospital and we extend our deepest sympathies to her family and all that have been affected by this situation around the world.
Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran has spoken with the presenters, they are both deeply shocked and at this time we have agreed that they not comment about the circumstances. SCA and the hosts have decided that they will not return to their radio show until further notice out of respect for what can only be described as a tragedy.