Tuesday, February 14, 2006
LOON HOAXER EXPOSED
Michael Leunig’s Iranian cartoon hoaxer is revealed! It wasn’t a pro-war blogger or right-wing sociopath after all, according to Crikey.com.au (subscription only):
Julian Morrow, writer, performer and executive producer of the television satire The Chaser last night said: “It appears now that a writer from The Chaser website submitted the cartoon. It was something that happened without my knowledge."
The identity of the hoaxer came to light after some snappy detective work by Age legal eagles (who also happen to sometimes represent Crikey) – they googled a phone number included in the hoaxer’s email and – Voila! – up came The Chaser website.
Leunig—pronounced LOO’-nig—is said to be consulting with lawyers this afternoon, following some compassionate head-tilty therapy. In other Loon developments, reader Joe Cambria points out that he is the emailer Leunig cites in this interview:
Um, yes I’ve had a few emails recently, kind of anonymous emails, you know, taunting me to enter this competition, saying come on, you’d be a natural, said one of them.
“That was me,” writes Joe. “I said he would be a natural in the email. Leunig says it was anonymous. It wasn’t. I used my regular email address.”