NAUGHTY & NICE: Shock jock Mel Greig (front), responsible for the Kate Middleton prank call, strikes an outrageous pose with sister Alana Munday when the two teamed up for “The Amazing Race Australia.” (
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The tragic “royal prank” is the latest in a long history of controversial gags that have played out on the airwaves:
* Miami radio hosts Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos managed to get Cuban dictator Fidel Castro on the phone after they posed as Hugo Chavez and his aide in 2003.
Castro cursed the radio hosts when they revealed the prank.
* A California woman vying for a free video-game system died from drinking too much water in 2009 during Sacramento radio station 107.9 KDND’s “Hold Your Wee for a Wii” contest.
* A couple was arrested in 2002 for having sex in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Midtown as part of a radio competition over who could make love in the riskiest place. They were caught in the act by an usher.
“Opie and Anthony Show” producer Paul Mercurio also was busted for aiding in the unholy hookup as he provided commentary during the act.
* A Los Angeles DJ got through to former French President Jacques Chirac by impersonating Jerry Lewis.
Chirac explained to Ralph Garman why he would not support President George W. Bush’s push for war in Iraq.
* Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin took a call from who she thought was French President Nicholas Sarkozy — except it turned out to be a Canadian comedian on a Quebec radio show.
Marc-Antoine Audette, posing as Sarkozy, adopted a cartoonish French accent and dropped hints that the call was a joke.
“I just love killing those animals. Mmm, mmm, take away life, that is so fun,” the fake Sarkozy said, after telling the former Alaska governor that he was a hunter. Palin didn’t seem to pick up on the gag.
* Two DJs in 2003 started a near riot when they pranked listeners by announcing a free Eminem concert in a Big Lots parking lot in Tennessee.
Cops descended on the scene and arrested DJs Shannon Brimmer and Thompson Riddle for allegedly creating a public nuisance — but also had to protect them from the mob of angry listeners.