[Red Moon]

I think given all that has gone he is right to pull out of the awards. It is like he said, him being there after that has gone on this week would just distract from the reason for awards, namely to promote comedy.

[Matt]

Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie to speak about Ross-Brand row on Five

Five is to air an exclusive interview next week with Andrew Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie in a documentary called Russell & Ross: What the ******* Was All That About?

The fast-turnaround documentary will be broadcast next Wednesday, November 5, and examine the impact of the media storm surrounding Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand.

Five's documentary will also look at the impact on their careers of the controversy following Brand's now-infamous BBC2 Radio show on 18 October 18.

In addition to Baillie's interview, the programme will also feature what Five calls, "previously unseen footage of Miss Baillie in action as she performs with her four-piece burlesque dance group, Satanic Sluts Extreme".

Source & Full Story: MediaGuardian.co.uk

Brand-Ross Facebook supporters to protest outside Daily Mail

More than 15,000 people have signed up to a Facebook group supporting Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross and are planning a protest tomorrow outside the Daily Mail's London offices.

Fans of the pair are planning a protest tomorrow outside the Daily Mail's Derry Street HQ in Kensington at noon, followed by one outside the BBC's HQ in the capital.

Called Support Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, Facebook group has swollen its membership in recent days as Brand resigned from his Radio 2 show and Ross was suspended without pay from all BBC TV and radio services for three months.

The 15,609 supporters who have joined the Facebook group compares with the 34,690 who complained to the BBC about the show following the Mail on Sunday's story on October 26.

Only two people complained after the show was broadcast on October 18.

The Support Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross group is also presenting a petition signed by almost 4,000 people.

Source & Full Story: MediaGuardian.co.uk

Jonathan Ross suspension could cost BBC Resources more than £500,000

The cost of Jonathan Ross's 12-week suspension from BBC TV and radio is already running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Estimates suggest the fallout from his break off-air will cost the BBC's commercial wing, BBC Resources, around £550,000 in cancelled studio costs alone.

In addition, around 30 staff are employed by Ross's independent production company, Hot Sauce, to make his BBC1 chatshow Friday Night with Jonathan Ross.

They are waiting to find out if they will be paid - and whether or not the money will come from the BBC or from Hot Sauce.

Hot Sauce also makes Ross's Saturday Radio 2 show and topical BBC1 film review programme Film 2008, which has already pre-recorded some interviews for next week's episode.

Source & Full Story: MediaGuardian.co.uk

[Red Moon]

Originally posted by Matt

Well the presenter better be on his/her best behavior, otherwise he/she might find themselves over the knee of Mistress Voluptua for a good old thrashing!

It's no wonder Brand has left the country... she is probably after him with her whips!

[Matt]

Jonathan Ross's £18m BBC deal caused Sachsgate backlash, says Terry Wogan

Sir Terry Wogan has defended the amount Jonathan Ross is paid by the BBC, but said the suspended presenter's £18m three-year deal was the reason the backlash against the Andrew Sachs prank calls incident became so fierce.

The Radio 2 breakfast presenter described the prank calls to Sachs that led to Ross being suspended and Russell Brand resigning from the station as "unforgivable".

Wogan expressed sympathy for Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas, who also resigned following the furore, saying it was a shame "our brilliant controller" had to leave.

Speaking yesterday at the launch of Bandaged, an album of songs sung by BBC Radio 2 presenters and their friends in aid of Children in Need, Wogan also said he agreed with ITV executive chairman Michael Grade's calls earlier this week to cut bad language in broadcasting.

Wogan added that there was a problem in broadcasting of "trying to appeal to an audience that is not there".

"Most of the resentment seemed to focus at the end, not on Russell Brand, not on this judgment they made, but on Jonathan Ross's salary," Wogan said.

"Come on - if your agent negotiates £18m ... are you going to turn round and say: 'I'm not going to take that?'" he added.

"It's not his fault he's paid that money. Don't criticise him for taking the money, because all of us would."

Ross was been suspended for 12 weeks without pay last week following the broadcast of pre-recorded lewd messages he and Brand left on Sachs' answerphone about the actor's granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. The messages went out on Brand's Radio 2 show on Saturday October 18.

The BBC TV and radio presenter is reported to have signed an £18m three-year deal with the BBC, meaning he could lose around £1.5m during the suspension.

Wogan said he hope the incident would not affect the public's attitude to Radio 2 and went on to say he backed Grade's calls to cut bad language in broadcasting.

"Absolutely I agree. I'm an old geezer and I'm like Michael Grade," he added.

"I don't think it's ever acceptable and I think there will be a backlash against it. There is already a backlash and I think it's not right," Wogan said.

"The F-word is bad enough, it's just an example of people who are inarticulate. You can bleep it out.

"I think it's unprofessional. I think some people think they will have more street cred with the youth if they eff and blind."

Source: MediaGuardian.co.uk

[Scarlett.]

Wont Wogan shut up and let it die

[Matt]

The apology that the BBC Trust ordered to be broadcast on Radio 2 will be aired tomorrow.

BBC press release:

On 30 October 2008, the BBC Trust announced a range of actions it required of BBC management in relation to a serious editorial breach on the Russell Brand Show on BBC Radio 2 broadcast on 18 October.

The BBC Trust instructed that a broadcast apology be made to licence fee payers on BBC Radio 2 for the serious breaches, the terms of which it was to approve, and at a time of its direction.

The Trust's Editorial Standards Committee yesterday approved the following apology to be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 8 November 2008 at 10.03am and 9.03pm:

"On 18 October, the BBC broadcast an exchange between Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross on the Russell Brand show on Radio 2. This concerned the actor Andrew Sachs and his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. Some of this exchange was left on the voicemail of Mr Sachs. The conversation was grossly offensive and an unacceptable intrusion into the private lives of both Mr Sachs and Ms Baillie. It was a serious breach of editorial standards, and should never have been recorded or broadcast. The BBC would like to apologise unreservedly to Mr Sachs, Ms Baillie and to our audiences as licence fee payers."

Notes to Editors
The timing of the apology relates to the times when the Russell Brand show (9.03pm) and the Jonathan Ross Radio 2 show (10.03am) would normally be broadcast on Radio 2.