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Kroq calls chirac { March 13 2003 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=29634§ion=SHOW&subsection=PEOPLE&year=2003&month=3&day=13http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=29634§ion=SHOW&subsection=PEOPLE&year=2003&month=3&day=13
Thursday, March 13, 2003
DID KROQ REALLY GET THROUGH TO FRANCE?
Was that really the president of France on KROQ/106.7 FM Wednesday morning?
Members of the radio station's morning team, Kevin and Bean, insist it was. Impersonating comedian Jerry Lewis, KROQ DJ Ralph Garman called the president's office and, after a long hold, was put in touch with Jacques Chirac.
"It was NOT a hoax," Garman wrote in an e-mail. But he said station management had asked him not to speak about it yet; as of Wednesday afternoon, KROQ said that the matter was being investigated, but otherwise had no comment.
Garman had called the president's office and, after a dead-on Lewis impersonation with the secretary, was put on hold. The station then went to commercials and songs. When Kevin and Bean returned, they said that, to their amazement, Chirac had answered and they had recorded the conversation.
Garman seemed honestly flustered during the exchange, dropping any punchlines and simply saying that he was worried about French-American relations. Chirac said he was worried, too, but said that the two countries would always be friends, even if they didn't agree about Iraq.
Chirac - if it was him - initially expressed skepticism that he was really talking to Lewis, but after Garman spoke, Chirac said, "I recognize your voice." At the end of the conversation, the president said he was "a big fan" of the comedian.
If it wasn't a hoax, KROQ officials could be worried about fallout from France, or Lewis, or both. In January, a radio station in Miami was criticized when its morning team used a tape of Fidel Castro's voice to get through to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
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"The President is On the Line"
KROQ Prank Phone Call Reaches President of France
Radio stunting and crazy phone calls are nothing new. KROQ’s Ralph Garman
does a killer Jerry Lewis impersonation and Kevin & Bean decided that
"Jerry" should call France to solicit support for the war. "We’ve done this
bit a thousand times and get hung up on every single time," said Kevin. They
finished the call, ended the bit, but Bean heard the line to France was
still alive. "She must have put us on hold to check with Mr. Chirac to see
if he was available to take a phone call from American film star ‘Jerry
Lewis,’" said Bean.
"She comes back on the line, but we had gone on to other things. We
scrambled to get Ralph back in the room and get ‘Jerry Lewis’ back on the
phone and sure enough Jacques Chirac (pictured) comes on the phone. Now
Ralph who has been funny with Jerry Lewis, now realizes that he’s talking
with the President of France and it is no longer a comedy bit." Lisa May
suggested it was now an "international incident." Bean thought that
President Bush would be pissed if they got through to the President of
France.
After much delay--
Ralph: Hello, darling, Jerry Lewis here from America, the United States.
Secretary: Hold on, thank you.
Chirac: Hello.
Ralph: President Chirac?
Chirac: Jacques Chirac speaking.
Ralph: President, Jerry Lewis here from the United States of America.
Chirac: Can I be sure that you are Jerry Lewis speaking?
Ralph: I don’t know how to make you not sure, sir.
Chirac: (Laughs)
Ralph: What can I do for you to make you think that it’s me?
Chirac: No, I recognize your voice.
Ralph: Excellent then.
Chirac: No doubt about that.
Ralph: Thank you so much sir. Mr. President, I’m just concerned with the
differences between our country’s right now going on.
Chirac: Yes, I’m concerned also.
Ralph: I know that our President Bush is putting that thing up with the UN
this week and I’m concerned how we’re going to handle this international
crisis. Obviously, this man has to be dealt with, this Saddam Hussein.
Chirac: Well, as you know, we and the United States are friends and we will
always be friends.
Ralph: I certainly hope so.
Chirac: We have a difference of appreciation about the story of Iraq today,
but that doesn’t mean we are going to fight against each other.
Ralph: Well, I certainly hope not. France means so much to me and you’ve
been so kind and goodness to me. I just want us to be able to work together
and solve this problem.
Chirac: Yes, I understand that. I want also to go in that way. We don’t want
to have any problem with the United States as you know and with the people
of the United States and also with President Bush.
Ralph: The reason I’m concerned, sir, and the reason I wanted to call you,
is because many Americans here are having very angry feelings toward France
and very upset with France because of this whole thing. I want to be able to
tell them that you are our friend.
Chirac: I understand that. But there are many, many people all over the
world who are very angry with the way the United States handled this crisis.
The war is always about solution for problems when it is possible to find
other solution and this is the case. We can through the inspectors, we can
rise to our common objective, which is to disarm Iraq without war. And
that’s why we don’t understand why we are going to have so many people
killed and so many problems when we can achieve the same without war. That’s
the difference of appreciation.
Ralph: I understand, sir, completely. I think we’re afraid that if someone
doesn’t stop this crazy mother *&%, he’s going to blow everybody up. It’ll
be too late. He’ll have bombs of mass destruction and be killing people.
Chirac: I share completely your point of view about Saddam, of course,
without any reserve, but I tell you that today, the inspectors say that we
can disarm completely within one or two months Iraq without killing anybody.
That’s the best solution. That is now possible because the United States
sends so many boys over there. That is the reason why Saddam had to accept
what the inspectors want.
Ralph: Absolutely. I understand. If you still believe that way, will you
still be vetoing any resolution that the United States puts up with the UN?
Chirac: I’m sorry I didn’t get that.
Ralph: Do you still think you’re planning on vetoing a resolution that the
United States and the British will bring to the UN this week?
Chirac: Well, I don’t know if they are going to send a resolution to the UN
this week. This is not yet for sure.
Ralph: Right, it’s like rumors.
Chirac: The resolution that they wanted to send a few days ago says you have
one week and over one week we attack. That is not reasonable.
Ralph: I understand, sir.
Chirac: We are very grateful to the United States for their action. Without
the boys over there, no doubt, we should not have the reserve, which means
Saddam accepting to disarm, but now I think we have to go and achieve these
procedures. We can avoid war, which is always a bad solution. As you know,
the United States must be very careful about that. As you know, there is a
great, great number of people all over the world who are very, very sorry
about the will of war of the United States. They have to be careful because
if all the people are against them, there is no good for the equilibrium of
the world. That’s the way most of the people think. The United States
already won the war because Saddam now accepts to be disarmed by the
inspectors. They won. That is a fact.
Ralph: I understand completely what you are saying, Monsieur President. It’s
true, nobody wants war. Nobody wants people to die. I will try to convey
your sentiments and your feelings to the people of the United States the
best that I can.
Chirac: Well, I thank you very much, but you must understand one thing that
France and I, we are and we shall always be the friends of America.
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