The Stage

BBC suspends Ross and Brand over “unacceptable” prank calls to Sachs

Published Wednesday 29 October 2008 at 12:20 by Matthew Hemley

Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross have been suspended by the BBC following the furore over prank calls broadcast on the former’s Radio 2 show.

In a statement issued today, the Corporation’s director general Mark Thompson said the calls - made by Brand and Ross to actor Andrew Sachs and broadcast as part of Brand’s Saturday night show on October 18 - had “caused severe offence” and labelled them “completely unacceptable”.

Brand and Ross left messages on Sachs’ answering machine when he failed to pick up his phone for a prearranged interview.

In the messages, the pair joked that Brand had slept with Sachs’ granddaughter and that Sachs might kill himself when he heard the messages.

Pressure has since been piled on the BBC to sack the presenters, with members of the public complaining in their thousands about the broadcast.

Ofcom has said it will be conducting an investigation into the situation, while the BBC is also carrying out its own internal review of how the phone calls were cleared for broadcast.

Thompson said Brand and Ross would not be working for the Corporation while the investigations took place.

“I have decided that it is 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. This gross lapse of taste by the performers and the production team has angered licence payers,” he said.

Thompson added: “I am determined that we satisfy them that any lessons will be learnt and appropriate action taken.”

He said he had been asked to report to the BBC Trust’s Editorial Standards Committee before the end of the week and would be discussing with them the actions that will be taken as a result.

“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,” he said.