After being caught in the middle of the storm over Wikileaks and being forced to smash up hard drives under the watchful eye of intelligence service technicians, the Guardian suffered a new blow today when rapper Danny Brown walked out of an interview after a row over a scotch egg.

Brown – a good egg, generally, the irony of which has been noted – had agreed to visit the Guardian to answer readers’ questions on the Guide Daily blog and take part in a British snack taste test. Brown was not a fan of the “Scottish egg” and made no bones of his dislike of the egg wrapped in meat wrapped in breadcrumb.

This slight to a staple of British life triggered a patriotic line of questioning from Paul MacInnes, Guide editor and self-proclaimed Scotch egg enthusiast, who enquired as to Brown’s negative feelings towards the egg.



This enquiry in turn irked Brown, just as he was about to begin his Q+A. His two-man entourage sensed a change in mood and cut the interview short, leaving unanswered questions and an untouched Scotch egg – one that this reporter enjoyed greatly.

When asked for comment, MacInnes said: “He was having difficulty getting into ‘the zone’ and was discussing his dislike of the egg. It occurred to me that some jokey ‘banter’ might loosen him up, so I said ‘you can’t come over here slagging off Scotch eggs,’ and things went rapidly downhill from there.

“I had intended, after discussing the Scotch egg, to give him a miniature bottle of Jack Daniel’s from my booze collection as thanks. I went to grab it, and when I came back he was gone. I apologise whole-heartedly for any egg-related offence caused.”



Brown, who is visiting the UK to perform live shows in London and Manchester and perform other media commitments, was approached for comment but declined. And so ended a dark day in this publication’s proud history. One fears the true victim of this regrettable turn of events may be the reputation of the humble Scotch egg itself.