Brand quits Radio 2 show in calls furore
CONTROVERSIAL star Russell Brand has tonight said he will quit his BBC 2 show in the wake of the furore over the prank calls he and Jonathan Ross made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs
CONTROVERSIAL star Russell Brand has tonight said he will quit his BBC 2 show in the wake of the furore over the prank calls he and Jonathan Ross made to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
Ross today apologised for his part in the calls, which saw the pair suspended by the BBC earlier today.
The BBC received 18,000 complaints about the calls, which saw Brand - a patron of the Bury-based drug charity Focus 12 - joke about sleeping with Mr Sachs' granddaughter.
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.”
Ross said: “I am deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks on the Russell Brand show have caused.”
This week's Friday Night With Jonathan Ross show was scrapped just hours before it was due to be recorded today.
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A web poll conducted on this site has called for the BBC to go a step further and sack the big-earning pair.
The responses to the question 'what should happen to Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand were:-
- Nothing - it was a bit of fun: 23.2% (35 votes)
- Pay cut: 7.3% (11)
- Suspension: 15.2% (23)
- Sacked: 54.3% (82)
