BBC suspends Brand and Ross
- 00:02:06
- ITN
BBC suspends Brand and Ross
Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand have been suspended over their lewd phone call to actor Andrew Sachs, the BBC has said. The pair left a prank message on the Fawlty Towers star's answerphone during a pre-recorded radio show. They included boasts from Brand about his sexual relationship with Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie and jokes from the presenters that the veteran actor might kill himself as a result of the revelation. Speaking outside his London home, Sachs said he was "not surprised" the pair had been suspended. And he confirmed he was not planning to take the matter up with the police. He said the pair had got it "badly wrong" and made a "poor team", but he was not seeking revenge. He said the matter was "very upsetting" not just for himself, but for his wife who is ill in hospital and other members of his family. "I'm very sorry it happened. These things happen, people get things wrong, in this case they got it badly wrong." Asked about a full transcript of the pair's remarks made public, he said: "I haven't read the full transcript, but I've heard about some of it and it sounds ghastly. How can grown-up, mature people do it? It's a very poor team, the two of them, if that's the result of it." BBC Director General Mark Thompson 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. "Since Sunday, I have been in regular contact with the senior executives I tasked with handling this issue. I am returning to London to review the findings and, in the coming days, announce what action we will take." Meanwhile, Miss Baillie, 23, has branded the high-earning presenters "cruel sickos" for carrying out the stunt. She said: "What's funny about humiliating a lovely old man who has never harmed anyone in his life? My grandfather is really upset and says he wants the whole situation to end. "I will be speaking to him to ask whether we should complain to the police and we'll be making the decision as a family." She added: "They (Brand and Ross) should at least pay for what they've done with their jobs." Miss Baillie said she felt "totally and utterly exposed and betrayed" by the calls and has threatened that she could make an official complaint to police but admitted she had slept with Brand.
ITN | October 29, 2008
