There's a storm brewing on the other side of the Atlantic about a series of prank phone calls Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross made to veteran comedy actor Andrew Sachs. After a series of complaints to the BBC regarding the calls, Brand quit his show and Jonathan Ross has been fined $2.4 million. Above is the audio from the pranks and I'd love to know if you think the performers went too far, or the BBC and public went too far in punishing them.
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Well, the Beeb is publicly funded, so, like it or not, the performers answer directly to the taxpayer.
Phone pranks are really immature and can be abusive. Comedians know this. It is why they do it. And it is why they are happy to be suspended, fired or otherwise fined over them.
It funds their next project.
True, the fact that this show is on the BBC does make it a bit more complicated than the average Howard Stern/FCC fight. I think $2.4M seems a bit excessive, though.
And personally, I don't mind stuff that's immature or abusive (duh), as long as it's funny. I didn't laugh once in the 9+ minutes of this tape, though.
Good point. $2.4 million is a perfectly acceptable fine for failing at comedy.
Gallagher owes me bigtime.
Amazingly, only 2 people complained to the BBC on the night the show was aired. All the other complaints came in after the incident was widely reported in the press . 99.9% of the complainers never saw the broadcast!
This does not make it right: they were offensive in their comments and should not have done it. However, the show was pre-recorded and the opportunity to broadcast this offensive piece or not was in the hands of the producers who must bear part of the responsibility.
Jonathon Ross has not been fined - he has been suspended without pay for 3 months. Whether this costs him $2.4 million or $400,000 depends on which newspaper you wish to believe. Only he and the BBC really know.