To television bosses, it may have seemed a moment of onscreen madness.
But to viewers fed up with the whole Paris Hilton saga, it was a long-awaited outbreak of sanity.
American newsreader Mika Brzezinski, co-presenter of MSNBC’s Morning Joe programme, refused to read out the story of the celebrity socialite’s release from jail ahead of items on Iraq and developments at the White House.
Miss Brzezinski then screwed up, shredded and attempted to set fire to the script on air. She told viewers: “I hate it and I don’t think it should be our lead. I just don’t believe in covering that story, at least not as the lead story on the newscast, when we have a day like today.”
We’ve been watching Paris Hilton’s BFF. Where do they get these folks? They are from another planet!