Russell Brand & Jonathan Ross

This is for those in the UK...

Has anybody else found that the media coverage of the whole Russell Brand / Jonathan Ross debacle has reached such a ridiculous level, it has made them suspicious that something else much more newsworthy is being swept under the carpet right now? I have no idea what however - just the nagging feeling that the public's attention is being deliberately turned away from something else.

Given that only 2 complaints were received at the time, it's almost as if it was shelved by the press until the time was right. Surely the story hasn't deserved anywhere near as much front page coverage as it has received?

I thought what they did was out of order and for those two getting paid such a hefty amount which is from the taxpayers pocket they should get grilled and realise they are not untouchable....isnt Jonathan Ross the highest paid celeb in Britain....cant see anything else being covered.!!!

reply to post by 2012gal


Agreed. 2 complaints at time of braodcast and as soon as the media pounced on it (as they always do) every miserable person jumps on the bandwagon and it is being discussed in the houses of parliment. I think we have more important things to worry about right now (recession anyone, petrol prices, housing market collapse)

The people that should be warned are the people that let this pre recorded show go out. Yes you read that right, pre-recorded. No one got killed, no one got beaten up. Lets just chill a bit

This whole thing would have blown over had the 'media' got there stirring hands on it and whipped up a frenzy.

Maybe they shouldn't have said it, but hey the grand daughter who was sooooooo offeneded about being labelled as a tart for sleeping with Russell Brand, did sleep with him and has sold her story today about it....Must be so hard for her with all that publicity for her burlesque troop now.

My heart bleeds

Just my pennies worth

[edit on 30-10-2008 by Gregandgemma]

Exactly. There's a presidential election next week, and we are also in the middle of a global financial crisis.
So why is this so newsworthy? No matter whether people think Brand and Ross are overpaid and out of order, or whether they think it's a PR stunt and bandwagon job, is it not strange just how much coverage it has received over the past few days?

As gregandgemma pointed out, it was pre-recorded. That to me makes it all the more strange. BBC producers had 2 days to sort it out, but they didn't. Why? And why wasn't it picked up on by the media until a week afterwards?

reply to post by 2012gal


Yep, I agree, The media made this what it is and even PM Brown had something to say about it. I would have thought he had a lot more things to worry about than a prank phone call.

reply to post by 2012gal


Interesting point. I just put it down to the probability that there was 'nothing else' to report.

I suspect that had there been a political scandal or a tragic accident to report then it would never have even made the news. Except for the showbiz section of the daily tabloid.

I am slamming my head on my computer desk because I cannot handle the stupidity.

It happens a lot.

And no, not the stupidity of these two comedians but the people that provide the attention the media thinks is worthy of something so UNIMPORTANT !

I think that it has gone a bit over the top now, there is much more news worthy stories happening around the globe as i speak than the calamity that is the brand/ross saga.

Lets just hope this all becomes forgotten soon, i for one am bored of it all now.

Winc(-(

if its not sick its not funny, well thats my view.

look at little britain, it really pushes some boundrys and thats what makes it so funny

In the words of the late, great Bill Hicks "but it distracted us from the domestic issues" - no real surprise there, if it wasn't those two it would have been something else to distract us from the economy and all the other hellish things taking place.

It's relatively amusing that Andrew Sachs has handled the whole thing in a dignified manner and yet his granddaughter is lapping up as much tabloid attention as she can, playing the whole thing up... career in tv anyone???

Yes, it wasn't a nice thing they did, but, in the grand scheme of things, it's not really that terrible - is Mr Sachs going to be so surprised his granddaughter has had sex? If I were him, I'd be more concerned about the sleazy/cheesy pictures of her that are being used to promote this distraction.

Personally I think they should both have to stand in the naughty-boys corner with a finger on their lips in silence for an hour, no pudding and then straight to bed.

Brand dissed El Prezidente Bush on the MTV awards. He also dissed her Royal Highness the Queen when he said that he wanted to "squeeze her boobs" when he met her. Off with his head!

reply to post by 2012gal


I see this as a deflection from the main news, regarding the current economic market. Why did Gordon Brown decide to get involved, there are much, much more important issue's that need addressing than Brand and Ross

just my pennies worth!

From what I understand it wasn't a big thing until about a week after broadcast, when the Daily Mail found out and got on board (I didn't see the paper, but I assume their front page went with something like "BAN THIS EVIL FILTH", with a sidestory of "VEGETABLES CAUSE CANCER" lol). And we know what many of their readers are like, the type to complain about something they haven't even heard.

Andrew Sachs himself doesn't even seem so bothered, the impression I got was that he understood it was just jokes that went too far and just wanted an apology.

I think the granddaughter had some ulterior motives, publicity, and revenge on Brand.

Originally posted by neformore

I was pondering this today myself.

When the newspapers run kiss and tell stories on Brand, do their editors get sacked?

The whole thing smacks of hypocrisy in action really. The girl involved in the story complained about Brands action, then promptly took most of her clothes off for the Sun newspaper, and has revelled in the spotlight ever since. Her initial complaint that they embarrased her grandfather is somewhat blown away by her subsequent actions, and discussion of the issues.

It is a "perfect storm" happening, and it makes me wonder what just slipped by under the radar.

I totally agree with this. I'm also wondering why our politicians are getting involved with this, wasting time in the houses of commons. Surely there are more important things going on that need their attentions such as the state of the economy.

I didnt realise it was pre recorded...now that you mention that it makes me think somethings not right.....

I'm listening to this being discussed on Radio Five at the moment concerning the woman that heads Radio Two resigning.

I like Russel Brand he is a geniunely funny comedian.Johnathon Ross is a good presenter but I've always disliked his sexist sense of humour (I like his wife's TV programme 'Jane Goldman Investigates' about the paranormal.

Well,it is pretty stupid to leave an answerphone message like that for someone who's 74.How would Ross like that to happen to him about his daughters?

I suspect Daily Mail hysteria at work however and a chance for the curtain twitchers to have a pop at Ross and Brand whose sense of humour probably does'nt sit well with them .However ,I find the 'Satanic Slut' grandaughter amusing .She's probably made a shed load of money giving The Sun the exclusive.
Should they have been punished?Yes.Their humourus prank(it seems they're the only ones wh found it funny)smacked of arrogance to me.

You know what your getting with Brand -he's risque.Look at the MTV awards and the dig at chastity rings .
I think most people are as surprised at the amount of coverage this has recieved as they are at the six multi -million pound shopping centres that have opened in the UK this week a bit dumb and there could'nt be worse timing.

HI

I listened to theboradcast on You tube last night,,, and Im not a fan of obscene humour or anything like that,,,, but if you do listen,,, it was quite funny,,, becaue they just got out of hand. It was childish male humour.

They were wrong, and they deserved a telling off,, they needed to apologise as it went to far. But not the sack.

But the BBC let it go on air as it was pre recorded, so they were really at fault if it breached the rules. They know what Brand and Ross are like.

The publicity Georgina has got,,,has now probably made her an E list Celeb,,, she is already represented by Max Clifford who must have snapped her up quick.

I think the media coverage has made it worse, and encouraged by the goverment to keep more serious news off the front pages.

We are fickle celeb worshipping nation at times

Welcome to the reality tv culture of the Modern world. Those people who complained are the same people who waste their money on voting for contestants on X-Factor / Big Brother.

Russell Brand has been voted out and Jonathan Ross is now the television hate figure.

This is no different to a modern public execution with the blood thirsty mobs shouting "off with their heads" just to see what happens as a form of entertainment in itself.

The whole thing was a non-issue from the beginning and you are right, its a strategy to distract the dumbed-down masses from the important things like the entire world economy collapsing.

This is how I see it.

Making obscene and nuisance calls is a crime (albeit a minor one).

Any boss of any company would likely fire their staff if they were found to be acting in this way.

They have brought the name of their employer embarrassment.

They harassed an old man, and embarrassed a young woman for cheap laughs.

I agree that the controller should go, it is her job to maintain standards. If she couldn't see that this was going to cause problems, she was not adequate at her job. If she didn't even screen it before approving it (which is more likely) again, she isn't doing her job.

Brand should be hanging his head in shame, simply for being what us Brits call a "cad", he was an asshat. Ross should know better, he's a pretty cool guy (have you seen his missus?) and he allowed himself to be led into a childish and stupidly moronic situation.

The girl in question, does not need to be questioned. It should make no difference that she is in a burlesque dance troop, to if she were a nun. She has done nothing wrong, and they have.

Yes, the press has gone far too over the top on this. But having watched the news all night at work, I know the election has had a lot more coverage. And the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe (that no doubt the UN will mull over for another month before agreeing a resolution on what biscuits they should have at their next meeting) is gaining increasing press, as it should.

I know the Govt. hold on to bad news and try to release it at a time when it can be buried under pop-trash news, but it rarely works, a lot of people see it in the valid press (non-tabloid papers).

Hopefully BBC News have had enough of trying to prove their impartiality by reporting "honestly" on it for so long and will now drop it.

Either way, I think that the news I (and many others) are waiting for and expecting would knock all this off the BBC anyway.