The BBC have apologised for broadcasting, on BBC1’s Breakfast programme, an unbleeped version of an audio tape where – allegedly – Christian Bale berates a colleague for ruining a shot on the set of Terminator Salvation. A spokeswoman is quoted as saying, “A technical error led to us broadcasting an unacceptable swear word.” Which seems a bit of an understatement if it’s true that the outburst includes the use of the F-word 35 times in just over four minutes.
The incident (the ‘berating’, rather than the BBC apology) has caught my attention as it comes hot on the heels of a scandal in Spain regarding an apparently illicit video showing El Gran Wyoming (yes, that’s what the guy calls himself) losing his rag with a trainee on the set of El Intermedio (la Sexta).
The video was broadcast by a rival programme Más se perdió en Cuba (Intereconomía) in an attempt to destroy Wyoming’s credibility, and last week newsgroups and chatrooms were filled with rumours and opinions (no change there, then) as half the population of Spain waited to hear whether Wyoming really was the cabrón that he appeared to be in the video, or whether it was all a montaje.
On Sunday night, El Intermedio‘s audience reached record levels – heck, even I watched, just to see what the fuss was about.
It turns out it was all a fake. Not a video montage, but a trick where the programme personnel acted out the whole scene with the intention of trolling their rivals who seem to have swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker.
What strikes me most about the story is the way the video was presented by Intereconomía. El Intermedio claim that no attempt was made to verify the source of the video or to check on its authenticity. Even if, as Intereconomía claim, they contacted La Sexta and were told “It looks like a real video; we can’t comment”, perhaps they should have made more enquiries. Or perhaps they should have been a little less ready to assume the worst.
I don’t know whether I think it’s professional to film false situations and trick people into publishing them as real news. But I am sure that it’s not professional to describe someone as having the manners of a “capitalist, despot, anti-democrat, sexist, and tyrant” on the basis of an unverifed video. And certainly not wise to do so when the protagonist is as skilled a comic as El Gran Wyoming.
don't confuse the narrator 