Every now and then a Melbourne subscriber fires off an email to Crikey claiming
that radio shock-jock Derryn Hinch is p*ssed on air. Hinch vehemently
denies it, which is why we were intrigued when this letter appeared in
today’s Herald Sun.

The line that caught our eye was this: “I may sound tired occasionally
on air, but I am not pissed. Those days are gone.” So does that mean
Hinch used to be drunk on the airwaves? Maybe he’d been hitting
the bottle when he named a pedophile on air and landed himself in jail
for contempt of court. Or was he hitting the bottle when he decided to
tell the world that Graham Kennedy was gay (true) and that he had AIDS
(false)? If Hinch used to go on air p*ssed, it could explain so much…

We fired off an email to the bearded one who sent back this prompt
reply: “I have not gone on air drunk. I was referring to Mt Macedon
days and Adelaide days when I did not have a radio or TV job.”

Oh well, I guess when he lands in hot water, he’s got no one to blame but himself.