2DAY FM jocks Mel Greig and Michael Christian will now face questioning by New South Wales Police following a formal request from Scotland Yard.
The disgraced DJs copped the full force of power of social media yesterday following news that of the suicide of Jacintha Saldanha, the nurse from King Edward VII Hospital who took their prank call.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) will also investigate the incident. 2DAY FM already has two warnings from ACMA for breaching the decency code over previous complaints against Kyle Sandilands, who called a female journalist “a fat slag” and “a piece of shit” and enticed a 14-year old girl to admit she had been raped on air.
Yesterday, Southern Cross Austereo CEO Rhys Holleran claimed the company did nothing wrong and that Greig and Christian had followed “internal policy” before putting the call to air that lead to the chain of events that ended tragically with the wife and mother of to taking her life.
King Edward VII Chairman Lord Glenarthur sent a formal complaint to Austereo chairman Max Moore-Wilton.
“King Edward VII’s Hospital cares for sick people, and it was extremely foolish of your presenters even to consider trying to lie their way through to one of our patients, let alone actually make the call,” he wrote.
“Then to discover that, not only had this happened, but that the call had been pre-recorded and the decision to transmit approved by your station’s management, was truly appalling.
“The immediate consequence of these premeditated and ill-considered actions was the humiliation of two dedicated and caring nurses who were simply doing their job tending to their patients.
“The longer term consequence has been reported around the world and is, frankly, tragic beyond words”.
Greig and Christian have been taken off the air following the prank call to the hospital where they pretended to be The Queen and Prince Charles and were put through to room where the Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for Morning Sickness.
Yesterday, Austereo suspended all advertising on 2DAY FM after major advertisers Coles and Telstra walked away from the station.
A statement from St James’s Palace said, “The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are deeply saddened to learn of the death of Jacintha Saldanha.
“Their Royal Highnesses were looked after so wonderfully well at all times by everybody at King Edward VII Hospital, and their thoughts and prayers are with Jacintha Saldanha’s family, friends and colleagues at this very sad time.”
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