Hugh Grant Schools Former NotW Editor

Hugh Grant was one of the victims of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, and in a confrontation Mediaite calls "amazing," he slammed a former NotW editor yesterday on the BBC. Some background: Grant had a chance run-in with Paul McMullen last year, and McMullen told Grant he'd been hacked. A few months later, Grant met with McMullen again and turned the tables: This time, he secretly bugged the former editor, and they talked all about the hacking operation. Grant wrote about the entire experience in the New Statesman.

Yesterday's interview started out relatively mildly, with Grant recounting his experience and what he'd learned from McMullen. But then McMullen got personal, noting his belief that almost anyone would be willing to trade places with a celebrity like Grant, even if it meant putting up with getting hacked. But Grant pointed out that celebrities weren't the only ones who were hacked, and left McMullen with this: "You guys had no morals, no scruples at all, you didn't care who got hurt as long as you were able to sell your newspaper. ... You're not journalists, you have no interest in journalism, it's just money, money, money. ... You should try real journalism. Because you’re not an idiot. You could probably do it." (More News of the World stories.)