Sting vs Paxman: "You're not being blamed for the global crisis, you're just being called a hypocrite"

As Newsnight swung into its Copenhagen stride last night, Sting appeared for a meeting with Jeremy Paxman:



The highlight would be Sting shifting uncomfortably in his seat when Paxman asked him if he felt uncomfortable wooshing between all his houses, and then appearing to suggest that he could have such a carbon-heavy lifestyle because he's earned it helping the rainforests. That throws an interesting perspective on his behaviour.

Sting also ducks the obvious question after he's called for the West to pay nations with rain forests. "How much should they pay?" asks Paxman. Sting suggests that would be a question for expert. The implication being that his work is based on a lack of expertise, then.

In conclusion, Sting claims that he's not looking for individuals to make changes, but targeting large corporations. Fine, but the introduction points out that Sting was last year's highest-paid musician after a massive, global tour. Isn't The Police a large corporation, Sting?

[Thanks to Mike E]

Unsurprisingly, Pete Doherty isn't exactly a go-to quote guy

TMZ seems a little surprised that Pete Doherty didn't offer much in the way of reaction when a heavily-accented German reporter asked him for reaction to Heath Ledger's death. There was a genuflection - possibly a shrug.

Maybe Doherty couldn't place Ledger. Or maybe he misheard and didn't know quite whose death he was commenting on - after all, it's not like Ledger was a mucker of Pete's, was it? And to be fair, last night, we had to rewind Newsnight to double-check that we'd heard Jeremy Paxman correctly. And Paxman isn't a heavily-accented German.