U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, left, jokes with Microsoft founder Bill Gates, right, at the U.N. Wednesday Sept. 26, 2012. Gates is in town for the 67th session of the General Assembly. (AP Photo/David Karp)
UNITED NATIONS — Former victims include Bill Gates, Mick Jagger, Britney Spears and Sarah Palin.
This week, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined the ranks of those pranked by a Quebec radio station, his office confirmed Friday.
Montreal comedy duo Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel called Ban on Thursday afternoon and pretended to be Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
“He quickly realized it was a prank … and he took it as it was intended: as a joke,” said Eri Kaneko, associate spokeswoman for Ban’s office.
Known as the Masked Avengers, the two are notorious for prank calls to celebrities and heads of state. The duo said the world’s top diplomat was rushed out of an important meeting to speak to them.
They said Ban Ki-Moon became confused when fake Harper complained he was too busy combing his hair with crazy glue.
The joke on Ban came during his busiest week of the year, when leaders from all over the world converge to headquarters in New York for the U.N. General Assembly’s ministerial meeting.
“Perhaps this was not the best use of his time,” Kaneko said. “In the future, we will be listening extra hard for poor French accents for any calls coming from Canada.”
The Avengers’ past victims also include business tycoon Donald Trump and former Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe.
“Well played,” Harper’s spokesman tweeted about the prank.