BBC Broadcasts Apology For Prank Calls
The BBC broadcast an apology Saturday for lewd phone messages left by two radio presenters on an actor's voicemail.
The publicly funded broadcaster said it apologized unreservedly for the "grossly offensive and unacceptable" prank.
The BBC was forced to defend its editorial standards after comedian Russell Brand and fellow presenter Jonathan Ross left sexually explicit messages on the phone of 78-year old actor Andrew Sachs about his granddaughter.
The calls were played on Brand's radio show on Oct. 18, and initially drew few complaints.
But media coverage and the posting of the calls on the Internet fueled a furor that saw more than 40,000 people complain.
Even Prime Minister Gordon Brown condemned the prank, calling the stunt "clearly inappropriate and unacceptable."
Ross and Brand had left phone messages for Sachs, who played the put-upon waiter Manuel on the classic BBC comedy "Fawlty Towers," claiming they had had sex with his granddaughter, 23-year-old dancer Georgina Baillie.
Baillie told the Sun newspaper that the comedians were "beyond contempt," and that Brand and Ross should "pay for what they've done with their jobs."
The BBC said Saturday that the stunt "was a serious breach of editorial standards, and should never have been recorded or broadcast."
Brand quit his BBC show after the scandal and Ross has been suspended for 12 weeks without pay. Two senior BBC executives have resigned.
Ross also announced that he will not present this year's British Comedy Awards.
The apology was broadcast Saturday during the slot usually occupied by Ross's show. It was being repeated later during Brand's former evening slot.
After their suspensions were announced, Baillie said that she and her grandfather were both "really happy.
"I'm glad it's all over with, as far as I'm concerned," Baillie said.
But in an interview about the furor to be broadcast by the BBC this Wednesday, Baillie said that while she angrily called for the two to be fired, she thinks their suspension is good enough.
"I think it's way out of proportion what's happened and I don't hate either of them - I don't at all.
"I think they're really talented comedians and I think a world without Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand would be a very sad, dull place."