Ross and Brand cannot be fined by Ofcom
- 00:01:39
- ITN
Ross and Brand cannot be fined by Ofcom
A £150,000 fine imposed on the BBC over the Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand lewd phone call scandal cannot be levied against the individuals without a change in the law, Ofcom has said. The regulator said it did not have the powers to fine individuals after Cabinet Minister Hazel Blears suggested the fine should be paid by Ross and Brand themselves, rather than the public. Ofcom imposed the fine for what it called the "gratuitously offensive, humiliating and demeaning" prank calls, broadcast last October on Brand's Radio 2 show. "Parliament decided for very serious breaches of our broadcasting rules the BBC would be subject to a maximum fine of £250,000," an Ofcom spokesman said. "These powers only allow for fines to be levied against the BBC and not individuals, to do so would require a change in the law." It said the fine, a record for the BBC for a single case, reflected the "extraordinary" nature and seriousness of the BBC's failures and breaches of the Broadcasting Code. Ross was suspended for 12 weeks without pay for the incident and Brand resigned in the ensuing scandal, as did Radio 2 boss Lesley Douglas. A BBC spokesman said the corporation accepted Ofcom's findings and added: "As we said last October, this material should never have been broadcast and we apologised unreservedly for that. "The BBC has since taken comprehensive action to deal with what were unacceptable failures in editorial judgment and compliance which led to the broadcast. "This has included a comprehensive review of compliance across Audio & Music, and a new policy ensuring presenters and their agents cannot be the Executive Producer responsible for compliance on their own shows."
ITN | April 5, 2009
