Update!

Kate Middleton Prank Call Tragedy: Radio Station to Donate Revenues to Nurse Memorial Fund, Maintains That Stunt Was Legal

Aussie company that employed DJs behind the hoax have committed to a minimum donation of $525,000 to help Jacintha Saldanha's family but insist that they didn't break the law

By Alexis L. Loinaz Dec 11, 2012 4:25 PMTags
Kate Middleton, Catherine, Duchess of CambridgeArthur Edwards - WPA Pool/Getty Images

The Australian radio station whose DJs pranked a Kate Middleton nurse later found dead of an apparent suicide is hoping to make amends.

Southern Cross Austereo, the parent company behind 2DayFM, announced that it plans to donate all of its ad revenues until the end of the year to a memorial fund for Jacintha Saldanha, the London nurse targeted by a tragic hoax by two of the station's DJs, Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

Per Reuters, the company has committed to a minimum donation of $525,000 to the late nurse's family.

"We hope that by contributing to a memorial fund, we can help to provide the Saldanha family with the support they need at this very difficult time," Rhys Holleran, Southern Cross' CEO, said in a statement. "It is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts continue to be with the family."

Saldanha's hospital later acknowledged the station's gesture. "I have today read that Southern Cross Media Group have pledged to make a minimum donation of $500,000 Australian dollars to an appropriate fund," Lord Glenarthur, chairman of King Edward VII Hospital, said in a statement to E! News. "We would certainly welcome such a donation to the Jacintha Saldanha Memorial Fund."

The station has already implemented aggressive measures in the wake of the tragedy, yanking the hosts off the air and canceling their program.

But the company has also taken a seemingly defiant stand, insisting that the prank broke no laws and that its legal team signed off on it.

In a statement, Southern Cross Austereo maintains that "company protocols were adhered to," per the New York Daily News.

"The company does not consider that the broadcast of the segment has breached any relevant law, regulation or code," it noted, adding that the station "will fully cooperate with any investigations."

On Monday, the DJs themselves spoke publicly for the first time about Saldanha's death, saying they were "shattered, gutted, heartbroken" over the news.

(Originally published on Dec. 11, 2012, at 6:04 a.m. PT)

Latest News