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Russell Brand: From Comic To Icke-Esque Conspiracist & Possible Abuser?

GNC

GNC

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Full story:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7698417.stm

Russell Brand has resigned from his Radio 2 programme following prank calls he made with Jonathan Ross to actor Andrew Sachs.

It follows a public apology from Ross over his "juvenile and thoughtless remarks" in the calls.

Earlier, it was announced the pair would be suspended and all their shows taken off air until the BBC has investigated the calls made on Radio 2.

Fawlty Towers actor Sachs, 78, said he had "respect" for Brand's decision.

Sachs was upset after Brand and Ross left a series of lewd messages on his voicemail as part of a pre-recorded show, taped on 16 October.

The pair made obscene comments about the actor's 23-year-old granddaughter Georgina Baillie during four separate phone calls.

'Brilliant actor'

Andrew Sachs says he accepts Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross's apologies Brand said in a statement that he took "complete responsibility" for the incident.

"As I only do the radio show to make people laugh I've decided that, given the subsequent coverage, I will stop doing the show," he said.

He added: "I got a bit caught up in the moment and forgot that, at the core of the rude comments and silly songs, were the real feelings of a beloved and brilliant comic actor and a very sweet and big-hearted young woman."

Earlier, he told reporters waiting outside his home: "I'm sorry that I have upset Mr Sachs."

He had presented his Saturday night show since November 2006 and is believed to have been paid more than £200,000 a year.

Meanwhile, Ross said in his statement: "I am deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks on the Russell Brand show have caused."

He said he had not issued a statement before because he had intended to apologise "to all those offended" on his Friday night chat show.

"However, it was a stupid error of judgement on my part and I offer a full apology," it added.

During the calls, Ross swore and said Brand had slept with Sachs' granddaughter.

More than 18,000 people have complained to the BBC while watchdog Ofcom has launched its own investigation.

The corporation's governing body, the BBC Trust, has now called a special meeting of its editorial standards committee for Thursday.

Director general Mark Thompson will report management findings to the meeting and tell bosses what action he plans to take...
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I'm not a fan of Brand, though I don't mind Ross, but hasn't this got a teensy bit out of proportion? How many of those complaining (and isn't complaining easy these days?) have actually heard the programme? I did hear it, and accept that prank calls are a part of radio comedy, have been for years.

It was crass and not very funny, but surely being quietly forgotten about, apology accepted, would be better? Isn't this another bandwagon of outrage to jump on that deflects attention from more pressing issues? I find that more offensive.
 
Yup. Great fun innit. :lol:
 
gncxx said:
It was crass and not very funny, but surely being quietly forgotten about, apology accepted, would be better? Isn't this another bandwagon of outrage to jump on that deflects attention from more pressing issues? I find that more offensive.
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This is the thin end of a wedge being driven into good taste and good manners. If we ignore insults to commonly-accepted good taste, then civilized behaviour is at risk of becoming extinct.

Personally, I'm glad to see this pair of priapic, "juvenile and thoughtless" poseurs get a serious rap across the knuckles.

Especially as the pre-recorded broadcast was paid for by BBC license-payers.

I'd say this is a pretty pressing issue.
 
rynner said:
gncxx said:
It was crass and not very funny, but surely being quietly forgotten about, apology accepted, would be better? Isn't this another bandwagon of outrage to jump on that deflects attention from more pressing issues? I find that more offensive.
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This is the thin end of a wedge being driven into good taste and good manners.
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I thought we were up to the fat end of the wedge now

nice summary of their past mistakes here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7695722.stm

finally listened to all of it this morning, boring, I would've complained about the amount of "were we wrong to broadcast it, phone us now" on radio 5, but had the fear of a follow up show devoted to "were we wrong to do a show asking if it was wrong to broadcast it?".

I did want Brand, rather than apologising, to go "Oh f*** off, there's more important news than some t**t off the radio insulting a minor celebrity and his grand-daughter".
 
Some sense here:
http://www.offthetelly.co.uk/?p=3485

Whenever the Mail or the Guardian decides to attack the BBC, we’re all casualties. Whenever the corporation reels, the country takes two steps backwards.

Their ire is misplaced, their targets are incorrect. Don’t attack the performers. If you’re unhappy, ask why the performers are so popular, why that particular kind of humour is in fashion, and who - or what - does most to encourage celebrity worship in the first place. The answers don’t lie in Television Centre, but up Fleet Street.
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Basically a lot of people are itching to bash the BBC. Again.
 
im in two minds about this!

in one respect no one grandfather should have to recieve messages on his phone like that, concerning who is grandaughter has slept with, and then to go and say that this was a prank and no harm was intended, then to say they wanted to break in and abuse her grandad was wrong.

the storm erupted after the pair called 78-year-old sachs, who created a TV legend with Manuel, during Brands Radio 2 show.
They left a message on his answering machine saying Brand had "f****d", Georgina and suggested the news could make the elderly actor kill him self
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whether your a celeb ot a normal person you are still entitled to your pirvatcy in your private life although not everyone chooses to keep it private! Brand had no right to make public his antics in the bedroom or who it was with.

but at the same time everone if not most know of Russell Brands shall we say "reputation" with the ladies, so she is not completly innocent either and in todays papers she was saying how he was crap in bed and what he said while they were in bed why notr just keep it to yourself has your grandfather not been humiliated enough?

Prankster Russell Brand kept apeing Fawlty Towers waiter Manuel after learning his lover was related to the actor who played him, the sun can reveal.
Andrew Sach's granddaughter Georgina Baillie said the boufant-haired comic pranced around the bedroom yelling "i know nothing" "que?" and "i learn it from a boooook."
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as for Jonathan Ross he was just as bad for shouting down the phone "he f****D your granddaughter", he is a father of three he would he like it if that was done to him regarding one of his children?
 
The only person who's come out of this with dignity is Andrew Sachs, which I expect disappoints the tabloids - no juicy 'celebrity feud' stories there then! :lol:
 
escargot1 said:
The only person who's come out of this with dignity is Andrew Sachs, which I expect disappoints the tabloids - no juicy 'celebrity feud' stories there then! :lol:
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exactly like i said even his granddaughter aint innocent in all of this, she knew what brand was like and srtill decided to go with him, so she cant be that surprised when he starts telling everyone that he has slept with her and as she already knows he tells of all his conquests as Brand puts it.

in my last post i said how in this mornings papers she has started to qoute bits ouyt of what was said and happened in the bedroom so she is just as bad.
 
She's got loads of publicity out of it. She's an 'up-and-coming star' and now even I've heard of her. She's that Voluptua out of the Satanic Sluts. I don't expect a high-profile controversy about her sex life is going to damage that career an awful lot.

I'm still not sure who Russell Brand is, thankfully, and Ross has always struck me as a tosser. It amuses me somewhat to hear their defenders call them talented performers - coke-headed personality-projecting chatter is a skill now?

I can't believe Andrew Sachs is 78! He's looking well on it, and yes, he seems to be the only one with any dignity whatsoever.

You can't help getting the feeling this is all such a big deal just to avoid everything on the news being accompanied by a big red downward pointing arrow.
 
Yup, bears out my point exactly.
 
Thank God we have satirists who can prick the bubbles of arrogance and pomposity of political and celebrity ogres that stalk our land.
Except Sachs doesn't quite fit The Bill. Apart from the Fawlty Towers thing of the past, he has done countless narrations and roles for the BBC as a voice actor.

Apart from the fact that they weren't very funny, Brand and Ross' comments, far from being juvenile smacked more of bullying to me and sets a really bad example to youth who already see celebrities as important role models.

There's always someone pointing out that no-one seems to be acccountable these days so I'm quite glad that some action has been taken. What was classed as alternative comedy has become mainstream and today's equivalent of Tarby and co in terms of ubiquity. Maybe this will freshen up the material of other 'funsters'.

rant mode - off.
 
i think thats the main that they have been punished Jonathan Ross seems to of been hit the hardest with his shows being cancelled, Russell Brand amde his own type of apology and Andrews granddaughter is not innocent in all of this and she anted a apology what they hell for your as much to blme love for this.

as for Jonathan Ross, it was in todays paper that he made a grovelling apology it read:

Jonathan Ross broke his silence over the Manuel obsenity row last night and said is behaviour was "juvenile and thoughtless"
The BBC star, on a massive £18million deal, issued a brief three-sentence apology after being told his TV and Radio Shows had been suspended.
Ross, 47, said he had intended to say sorry on his Friday Night Show, but this is now being cancelled along with his Saturady Morning Radio 2 Show and TVs film 2009. He wanted to make it clear he made a "stupid error of judgement" by insulting Fawlty Towers legend Andrew Sachs 78.
Ross and Brand sickened listeners on Brands BBC Radio 2 Show by making vile jokes about Andrew Sachs granddaughter Georgina Baillie, 23.
As complaints rocketed to 27,000 yesterday dad of three Ross confessed "i am deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks have caused".
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Russell Brands apology is as follows:

Shamed Russell brand apologised last night for the notorious broadcast - then immediatly boasted that he was off the the US to make "quite alot of films"
he spoke of his regret as he returned home to North London after quitting his Radio 2 Show.
Brand, who was with his mother and other family members, said "i think it is for the best. The important thing is that Andrew Sachs family have been hurt so i offer my apologies to them"
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well yes you should after all you are a part of why they are upset or at least her grandad is upset.
 
I bet Ross and Brand have one new fan - Kerry Katona. ;)
 
escargot1 said:
I bet Ross and Brand have one new fan - Kerry Katona. ;)
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yes :D :lol:

thats another thing aswell she seems to make the news everyday now dont she?
 
goth13girl666 said:
Jonathan Ross seems to of been hit the hardest with his shows being cancelled,
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Yes, poor chap. Suspended on full pay of £16,000 a day ;)
 
escargot1 said:
I bet Ross and Brand have one new fan - Kerry Katona. ;)
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She really is a victim of the celebrity meat grinder and forces beyond her, somewhat limited, control.

As to the thought of Ross being, "hit the hardest", I'm afraid that I couldn't possibly comment. :hmm:
 
It sits ill with me personally what some people are saying about the granddaughter. So what if she dances with Satan's Sluts, she's still entitled to the same respect as any other woman. It's one step away from saying that raping a prostitute isn't as bad as raping a "decent" woman.
 
Oh, absolutely. I certainly didn't mean any such thing, only that the whole affair has massively raised her (and their) public profile, which is seldom a bad thing in the enterainment business, even under slightly unsavoury circumstances.
 
beakboo said:
It sits ill with me personally what some people are saying about the granddaughter. So what if she dances with Satan's Sluts, she's still entitled to the same respect as any other woman. It's one step away from saying that raping a prostitute isn't as bad as raping a "decent" woman.
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every woman and man deserves to be treated with respect, but as i said earlier she was well aware that Brand always boasted about every woman he has ever slept with and still went with him, and secondly she ws inthe paper today saying about what Brand was saying in the bedroom and saying how is was no good and she was disappionted with him, so in tht respect she is just as bad.
 
Punishment:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7700816.stm

Ross suspended for three months

TV's Jonathan Ross has been suspended from all BBC shows without pay for 12 weeks following the prank calls row.

Director general Mark Thompson called Ross's actions "utterly unacceptable", adding that "it cannot be allowed to go uncensured or without sanction".

The controller of BBC Radio 2, Lesley Douglas, resigned over the broadcasts involving Ross and Russell Brand.

Ms Douglas said the decision to leave her job was "mine and mine alone" and was made with "enormous regret".

Thompson met with the BBC Trust for several hours on Thursday to discuss the crisis over lewd phone calls made to actor Andrew Sachs during Russell Brand's Radio 2 programme.

On-air apology

The Trust has said there will be an on-air apology for calls and called for editorial controls in the BBC to be tightened.

In a statement issued after their meeting with Thompson, the Trust said it was "dismayed" that the broadcasts "fell so far short of audience expectations".

It said there had been a "deplorable intrusion" into the privacy of Mr Sachs and his granddaughter."

They issued an unreserved apology to licence fee payers, as well as to the Fawlty Towers actor and his family.

'Painful week'

Ms Douglas, who took up her post as controller in 2003, said: "I am proud of what we have achieved together over the years and I shall miss you all."

She admitted in her resignation letter that it had been a "painful week" for Radio 2.

In his response, Thompson said the decision had been accepted with "real sadness".
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It will be interesting to hear how Ross's act changes when he gets back in January. I have to assume most of the complainers have never heard of Brand or Ross before and had no idea how they behaved in front of a microphone.
 
gncxx said:
I have to assume most of the complainers have never heard of Brand or Ross before and had no idea how they behaved in front of a microphone.
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Why do you assume that?

Maybe, for many who have endured the puerile knob-related posturings of this pair for some time, this was the final straw?

(And even if many listeners had never heard of them before, does this make the performance acceptable? I think not!)
 
rynner said:
gncxx said:
I have to assume most of the complainers have never heard of Brand or Ross before and had no idea how they behaved in front of a microphone.
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Why do you assume that?

Maybe, for many who have endured the puerile knob-related posturings of this pair for some time, this was the final straw?

(And even if many listeners had never heard of them before, does this make the performance acceptable? I think not!)
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i agre whether you have heard of someone or not there is no need or call for behaviour like that, no grandparent should have to recieve calls like that its not nice or fair.
 
rynner said:
(And even if many listeners had never heard of them before, does this make the performance acceptable? I think not!)
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While - on the whole - I agree with you, I think this is a bit silly. There are thousands of comedians I've never heard of - and haven't heard their act - but it wouldn't be right for me to condemn their performance without hearing it for myself. Like critics who slate a show without seeing it, it's unfair.

Bearing in mind that some things are unacceptable in content, humour is incredibly tricky and objective. Some folk like this kind of thing. I don't. But to put an "Unacceptable" sticker on a show is too much.

It's all been blown up out of proportion by the tabloids. The "joke" was tasteless and embarrassing but it was the intervention of a media outlet - which earns a lot of money in sales by scandal - which publicised the stunt more and encouraged people who wouldn't have otherwise heard the show to complain. What about the so far unnamed production staff who thought the recording to be acceptable to broadcast? Or was Brand and Ross too influential to deny?
 
What about the so far unnamed production staff who thought the recording to be acceptable to broadcast? Or was Brand and Ross too influential to deny?
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there to blame aswell if they knew or even thought it was not suitable to be put on air why did they?

as for everything getting blown out of proportion when it comes to celebs that happens around 90% of the time, it sems to be a thing they have going :D
 
Stormkhan said:
It's all been blown up out of proportion by the tabloids.
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No, all the 'heavies' carried the story (and commented on it) too.
What about the so far unnamed production staff who thought the recording to be acceptable to broadcast? Or was Brand and Ross too influential to deny?
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This is a good point - the show was pre-recorded, and should have been edited. As Andrew Sachs was told it would be. (Sorry, too late at night to hunt up references).

A gross breach of faith. Which is why
The controller of BBC Radio 2, Lesley Douglas, resigned over the broadcasts involving Ross and Russell Brand.

Ms Douglas said the decision to leave her job was "mine and mine alone" and was made with "enormous regret".
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Update. I know...it's wrong but it's been worth it after all if just to see Chris Evans in tears.
 
gncxx said:
It will be interesting to hear how Ross's act changes when he gets back in January. I have to assume most of the complainers have never heard of Brand or Ross before and had no idea how they behaved in front of a microphone.
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What struck me most was that there were about half a dozen complaints on the day, followed by 30,000 complaints a week later after the media had an attack of the vapours (and some papers actually printing the phone number with which to complain about it.) Considering how popular Brand's show was, it does serve to demonstrate that 99.99% of complainants hadn't listened to anything in context. Now, I'm not excusing it in the slightest - I think they were both way out of order. Mitch Benn was on Breakfast telly the other morning pointing out that this is a big risk of live comedy without a live audience - unless you have a constant litmus reaction to untested, off-the-cuff material you can very quickly go way off beam without realising. Which is why they pre-record it...

Which brings up the question of what will happen to the person that OK'd transmission. As 'khan pointed out, they're as much part of this as Brand or Ross - and no matter how highly treasured the performer, theoretically in the Beeb at least the production team always has the final say. This was borne out by Barry Cryer on R4 a couple of days ago, who said it's just not up for question, the producer's word is final. Very noble of Lesley Douglas to quit and all that, but what about the person that spectacularly didn't do their job?
 
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