Actor Hugh Grant’s alleged attempt to assault paparazzo Ian Whittaker with a tub of baked beans last week has prompted us here at Press Gazette to ask ourselves an urgent question.
What’s the strangest thing that has been thrown at a journalist.
Just asking around in Press Gazette’s nine-strong editorial team prompted some bizarre answers. The staff members concerned have asked to remain nameless – but one had a bucket of urine thrown over them whilst doing a door-knock in Woolwich, whilst the other had fish stock poured over them from an upstairs window.
Casting the net further afield, we found out (as revealed in tomorrow’s magazine) the story of a photographer who had an artificial leg thrown at him.
And apparently in the early Nineties then Daily Mail diary writer Kate Sissons had a copy of Debrett’s Peerage thrown at her after provoking the displeasure of colleague Nigel Dempster, who reportedly had just returned from a long lunch.
It appears no journalism career is complete without something bizaare being thrown at you, beyond the obligatory daily verbal abuse.
There must be hundreds, if not thousands, of great projectile stories out there. What’s yours?
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