Do You Think

[dinger]

Johnathan Ross and Russell Brand should be sacked for the offensive phone messages they sent to Andrew Sachs. I think they should. Behaviour like that is totally unnecessary and uncalled for.

[Shelli]

and it's against the law to leave offensive messages on someones phone

I liked Jonathon Ross and thought he was fairly harmless - but he has sunk to the level of lowest common denominator to appeal to the smartie eating generation - he needs to grow up and get some material for his show instead of this schoolboy stuff

and yes he should be off the air - apparently he took a bunch of flowers round to Andrew Sachs and apologised personally - like that's going to make it okay

what a dingbat

and Russell brand - theres nothing to say - he's a total non-talent and shouldn't be on the air anyway

Entertainment is going totally down the tube

I'm off to listen to Radio 4!

Shelli X

[Crocus]

I of course don't know these people, but noticed this on Sky News. Perhaps something like this should be nipped in the but as soon as possible before someone else also goes along the same route by making these nasty phone calls. xx

[dinger]

I believe they were ordered to apologise and to me that is not a true apology from the heart so is meaningless .x

[dragonfly]

Yes I think they should be sacked. What an awful and childish thing to do.

[souter girl]

Ironically I got a charity appeal this morning containing raffle tickets
a charity wanted me to sell (i.e.buy). Their patron was Jonathan Ross. I don't normally like this way of soliciting money for charity anyway as it makes me feel guilty if I don't respond - but this time it went in the bin and I was tempted to ring the charity and suggest they choose a patron with a little more integrity!
I also think the producer who rang Andrew Sachs to ask if he would mind it being broadcast (he did but they went ahead anyway) should also be sacked.Rudeness and filth are not funny and therefore not subjects for a so-called "comedy" show. End of story!

[jazzactivist]

I have never liked either presenter's style and think their humour is quite juvenile, in different ways. This was a really childish and offensive thing to do and Jonathon Ross, in particular, has been around for a long time and should be conversant with the rules of broadcasting. Russell Brand is also old enough to know not to 'kiss and tell' about his sexual exploits. However, I don't think that they should be dismissed, as this could open up a situation where the BBC so closely controls its employees that it becomes untenable for it to keep going and at least it still has a broadcasting code, unlike some of the commercial channels. I think that suspension without pay and a formal warning spelling out the boundaries of what the BBC consders to be acceptable taste would be enough to take the over inflated wind out of these presenters' sails. Both presenters have apologised to Andrew Sachs and his grand daughter and maybe they should have to apologise on air to everyone too.

[dinger]

I also had raffle tickets and even though they were for Leukaemia Research I sent them back telling them I was raising money by the book I have written and don't think Jonathan Ross coming through the letterbox is a good thing in the light of what he has done. As a father I think he is a disgrace.

[Clunkshift]

While I don't like either Brand or Ross either professionally or personally, I think it would be unfair to sack someone on the very grounds on which the BBC has promoted them.
The BBC has pursued a policy of pushing boundaries of taste and decency in both their comedy and dramatic offerings, justifying any excess as being "Edgy". What can "edgy" mean other than on the edge of all current boundaries?

Under the guise of being "fair" and "politically correct" the BBC depicts more profanity, sexual banter, immorality and poor taste than other channels who rely on viewing figures for their income, while at the same time employing a greater proportion of ethnic minorities and homosexuals among their staff than are present proportionately in UK society.

Since the public, as licence payers, finance the BBC, more public consultation and accountability is needed so that the UK viewers are shown what they want to see, rather than what the BBC production staff thing they should be viewing.
If that meant that BBC1 would be a "family channel", BBC2 would be an "educational" channel, BBC3 an "edgy and Arts channel and BBC4 for "youth", at least the resultant viewing figures would reflect what viewers actually chose to watch.

[lesleyhannah]

Well, I quite like 'edgy' humour - although I do only listen to Radio 4, so have no way of knowing whether these 2 presenters are edgy or not. However, I did read a transcript of the phone message, and it sounded to me like straightforward bullying without much humour of any sort. Seems like bullying is the new humour - and I'm glad it does seem to be suffering from a backlash now.

If anyone left a message like that about my daughter on my answerphone I'd expect the police to take some sort of action. I think Ross & Brand are very lucky the elderly man concerned has chosen not to involve the police.