Ross and Brand suspended over lewd calls (From Swindon Advertiser)
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Ross and Brand suspended over lewd calls
11:55am Wednesday 29th October 2008 in
Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have been suspended over their lewd calls to Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, the BBC announced today.
The decision came as the BBC received 18,000 complaints over the furore.
BBC Director-General Mark Thompson said it was "not appropriate for either Russell Brand or Jonathan Ross to continue broadcasting on the BBC until I have seen the full report of the actions of all concerned".
In a written statement, Mr Thompson said the broadcast was a "gross lapse of taste" and a "severe offence".
Do you think suspending them is the right thing to do?
Have your say below...
He said he had apologised to actor Mr Sachs over the broadcast.
He said: "I would like to add my own personal and unreserved apology to Andrew Sachs, his family and to licence fee payers for the completely unacceptable broadcast on BBC Radio 2.
"BBC audiences accept that, in comedy, performers attempt to push the line of taste.
"However, this is not a marginal case. It is clear from the views expressed by the public that this broadcast has caused severe offence and I share that view."
He added: "I have been asked to report to the Trust's Editorial Standards Committee before the end of this week and will discuss with the trust the findings of the report and the actions I propose."
Comments(36)
ourtone
says...
12:04pm Wed 29 Oct 08
It wouldn't matter so much if they were on some comercial station, but they aren't. They are on the BBC, and we all pay for that. If we try not to pay we get fined or even imprisoned.
Personally the only use I make of the BBC is the Wogan show, and I feel I am being overcharged.
Russell Brand is a talentless idiot. He is completely overated and would be overpaid if he was working for free.
Ross should have known better.
Bea192
says...
12:06pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Robh
says...
12:29pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Now we will see if JR was really worth the money they paid him. Personally I don't think he worth a fraction of what he's paid but we will see if any others will take him on.
nansview
says...
12:33pm Wed 29 Oct 08
I agree totally with ourtone Brand is a telentless idiot and Ross should have known better.
Grimly Feendish
says...
12:39pm Wed 29 Oct 08
mcs
says...
12:41pm Wed 29 Oct 08
dc the 2nd
says...
12:46pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Sunday after the show - 2 complaints
Monday after the podcast - a few hundred complaints, about the same as some Top Gear epidsodes
Tuesday - Media get hold of it on a slow news day, 10,000 complaints.
I will bet most of you didnt even listen to it did you? Just saw the clip on the news? hmmm? I did and it was as hilarious as ever, to be honest it wasn't the most outrageous thing i've heard on his show.
Yeah, lets ban them, clap them in chains and throw away the key. Great, lets have Friday night with Alan Titchmarsh, that'll be an A list winner.
jeez
Psychotic Sid
says...
12:51pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Bea192
says...
12:52pm Wed 29 Oct 08
I used to listen to Jonathan Ross's show but found it much of a muchness. Russell Brand really doesn't help matters. He has no talent to speak of. What has he done exactly to merit 'celebrity' status. Can you fill me in dc the 2nd?
Username
says...
12:56pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Anyway they were only telling the truth, even if they didn't exactly express themselves in the right manner.
dc the 2nd
says...
12:58pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Him being a respected stand-up comedian and rising actor I can see being relevant.
ourtone
says...
1:15pm Wed 29 Oct 08
12:46pm Wed 29 Oct 08
what a load of fuss over nothing.
Sunday after the show - 2 complaints
Monday after the podcast - a few hundred complaints, about the same as some Top Gear epidsodes
Tuesday - Media get hold of it on a slow news day, 10,000 complaints.
I will bet most of you didnt even listen to it did you? Just saw the clip on the news? "
You are missing the point.
Its not about how many people listened to the show.
Its about the elderly man who listened to a string of increasingly offensive voicemail messages.
How many grandfathers of your aquaintance would like to receive phone calls from a loutish, alcoholic drug addict, shouting that he had had sex with a no doubt, beloved grand-daughter. Worse still, in the background, another of his loutish mates screamed further abuse.
That would be offensive, even if no-one listened to it on the radio. Arguably it is illegal under the 1997 Harrasment Act, given that it happened more than once. In addition to being sacked, they should both be prosecuted. He may yet be prosecuted in Northampton for wasting Police time.
I have to laugh at hearing Russell Brand described as a 'Respected,' stand-up comedian. Its the only laugh I have got from him.
He is about as funny as cancer. This is the man who came to "work," as a VJ on 12th September, 2001, dressed as Osama Bin ladin.
Bob Geldof had it right!
streetsoundzuk
says...
1:20pm Wed 29 Oct 08
PJC
says...
1:24pm Wed 29 Oct 08
dc the 2nd
says...
1:39pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Anyone bother to do a minutes research would know that he used to be both, but is now tee-total.
The Mancunian Way
says...
1:44pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Oik1
says...
1:51pm Wed 29 Oct 08
the show wasn't live, it was recorded so why didn't the producer do his job, if anyone needs a slapped wrist here it's him and the production team.
What happened wasn't clever but questions being asked in the houses of parliment, give me a break!
Let Andrew Sachs deal with it, he's the injured party in this, everyone else who's having a snivel and whine had an off button.
In case people have forgotten we have our armed forces fighting abroad, if the public reacted a little more strongly about something like that then perhaps our guys would be home and safe that little bit sooner.
Always Grumpy
says...
1:51pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Why on earth those two muppets are still being paid is an insult to the BBC licence payers.
They should be sacked, without compensation, immediately.
What's the betting tey are both back at work at the BBC very soon?
ourtone
says...
1:52pm Wed 29 Oct 08
1:39pm Wed 29 Oct 08
ourtone, well its not worse than you coming on here, another media outlet, and calling him a alcoholic drug addict" is it? If everyone's equal then you should be prosecuted for making false accusations against him. Can you explain how its different please?
Anyone bother to do a minutes research would know that he used to be both, but is now tee-total.
Excuse me. “False Accusations!” How can they be false when they are true?
Brand has made a huge pile of money by gleefully admitting to being both an alcoholic and a drug addict. His execrable ‘My Booky Wooky,’ contains many anecdotes of drunken and drug-addled excess.
Another chuckle for me today. “He used to be both, but is now tee-total!”
Anyone who knows anything about alcoholism and drug addiction will know that there is no such thing as an ex alcoholic or ex addict. Some of them make a choice not to use alcohol or drugs again, but they will be addicts till the day they die. That is why AA meetings are for life.
Brand may be a non-drinking alcoholic and a non-using drug-addict, but he is still an addicted alcoholic.
That’s how it is different.
sassy
says...
1:56pm Wed 29 Oct 08
I read in another article that Sachs just wanted the whole thing to end, and that a sincere apology would be sufficient. So, if he is Ok with an apology then shouldn't the rest of us be or is this just an excuse for people to vent and hate on them for the sake of it.
Don't get me wrong I do think it was offensive but I think it's now been taken too far. Now as for the BBC bosses, I think they should be thorougly investigated as to why they let in air in the first place.
PJC
says...
1:58pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Grimaldi
says...
2:07pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Brand is a ridiculous caricature of a person and how he has got to where he has, I will never know.
The pair of them should be sacked. I did listen to the show and thought at the time that they will get done for it. If it had been two lesser BBC lights, they would have got sacked.
The less we see and hear of this pair of poltroons the better.
cfa
says...
2:16pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
2:37pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Funny how 10,000 complaints appeared after the mail led with the headline eh?
I bet people deliberatly went on youtube to listen to it IN ORDER TO BE OFFENDED.
Its pathetic. If this is really the biggest story in the uk at the moment then the country must be in a great way. oh, hang on a minute, it isnt.
Opinionated Wench
says...
2:38pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Who sleeps with Russell brand should know it will get broadcast at some point.
I'd hate to see both of them off air, Oh i hope ponderland is still on Thursday night. I'm looking forward to it!
Grimaldi
says...
2:40pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
2:40pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Even Angrier Monkey
says...
2:54pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Grimaldi wrote:Do you watch the news? Have you listened to the radio in the last few days, checked the front pages of newspapers?
Who said anything about this being the biggest story in the UK?
dc the 2nd
says...
2:58pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Robh
says...
3:17pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Does this make it right??
It should have been edited out.
Does this make it right??
We jump up and down when old folk are abused or tricked. Don't forget that Mr Sachs is a pensioner and should not receive this abuse.
Hiding it and ignoring it doesn't give much of a lead to others and still doesn't make it right.
ourtone
says...
4:56pm Wed 29 Oct 08
2:58pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Sorry ourtone i dont agree, maybe i should complain to newsquest until you get banned, but i fear the irony would be lost."
What a shining example of a response to a reasoned argument.
You can always tell when people can't think of asnything inteligent to say.
No wonder you defend the purile Brand.
The sad thing for me is that I used to like Jonathon Ross.
You think he'd knwo better, especially after the furore over Julian Clary's comments at an award ceremony some years ago as he stood by.
mcs
says...
5:17pm Wed 29 Oct 08
In this particular case, one of our senior citizens has been subjected to a stream of obscene phone calls. The fact is; his constitution is such that it has offended and upset him (and for that he deserves an apology). His granddaughter has also been publicly humiliated for showing poor judgment in her choice of sexual partner, although I'm sure at the time she was well aware of Brand's lack of consideration when it comes to other people's feelings (particularly if he thinks he can get a cheap laugh from it). However, I doubt that she would have been so foolish if she had known about the childish prank Brand subsequently had up his sleeve for her grandfather.
The whole affair is made worse by the fact that this vile attack was broadcast to millions of people. Of course the BBC should stand up and be counted for their part in allowing this filth to air.
This puerile attempt at humour has, justly, backfired on its perpetrators. They need to learn that being popular does not give them cart-blanche to ride roughshod over other people's feelings.
At least the two narcissistic presenters have gone some way to admitting their folly by sending Mr Sachs a private apology. I wonder whether they have been decent enough to show Ms Baillie the same courtesy yet.
I'm no puritan, far from it but I do believe in showing consideration and respect towards others.
In the context of 'News', yes, there are other pressing matters that we should be and indeed are worrying about. But let's not forget that our attitude towards our fellow man is an important factor in what makes us 'civilised' people. If we all adopted this 'I say what I like, like what I bl**dy well say and to hell with you Jack' attitude, we'd be nothing better than a bunch of insensitive morons... Not really the sort of people one might consider 'fit' to make sensible judgments about the economy, politics and other such matters of substance'.
mothership
says...
5:38pm Wed 29 Oct 08
Mum's The Word
says...
5:48pm Wed 29 Oct 08
glad i left
says...
6:00pm Wed 29 Oct 08
I Too
says...
5:36pm Thu 30 Oct 08
glad i left wrote:The whole point of the Fawlty Towers german sketch was to ironically demonstrate the stupidity of stereotypes, as with Love Thy Neighbour, Men Behaving Badly, Alf Garnet, etc.
cant see what the problem is. I come from Catalan heritage and i found his (sachs) portrayal of my people extremely ignorant. But I guess it is ok for him and John Cleese to laugh at Germans and foreign people in general. dont tell me that you were all against the tv program love thy neighbour or whatever it was called in the 1970's. Grow up and realise that there are bigger problems and Sachs just wants an appology. next story please.
Although not strictly PC, they all had scripts, which used a certain amount of talent / intelligent thought to offer entertainment.
By contrast, the Ross / Brand scenario was just a couple of people making a stupid phone call(s).
It required no fore-thought or talent (anyone can use a phone, and talk nonsense down it) and simply was not funny.
Brand and Ross are not talented
The Morecambe and Wise, and Dad's Army, are still amusing after decades of being produced, and offend no-one.
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