Stars fall to earth

This week’s storm in a teacup blew up when two BBC radio presenters made prank calls during their regular Saturday evening show. Comedians Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross are renown for their edgy humour offset by a somewhat fobbish demeanor. On this occasion they attempted to call 78-year old actor Andrew Sachs four times for a pre-arranged interview. Sachs is best known for his role as the Spanish waiter Manuel in Fawlty Towers.

When they couldn’t reach him, Brand and Ross began to leave increasingly obscene comments on voicemail about Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. Of the program’s estimated 400,000 listeners, only two initially complained to the BBC, including Sachs. However, a media storm soon erupted.

The story came to dominate headlines for days, while the BBC received 37,500 complaints. Most questioned how a pre-recorded show with such deplorable content ever made it to air. All agreed that harassing an old man with obscene calls was in poor taste, even if the incident had become a something of a media frenzy.

In an interesting twist it was revealed that Baillie had dated Brand two years earlier. She was also reported to be a burlesque dancer, performing with a female troupe called the Satanic Sluts Extreme. The group decribed themselves as “four of the sexiest depraved London jezebels.”

As the news hype continued, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Conservative leader David Cameron both deplored the calls. The BBC moved from an initially inadequate response to one that risked blowing the entire incident out of all proportion. As one newspaper commentator noted, nothing is more deadly than the British press pursuing moral outrage.

Repercussions quickly followed. Russell Brand initially made a public apology, then resigned. The Controller of BBC Radio 2, the network that broadcast the calls, also resigned. The BBC then suspended Jonathon Ross without pay for 12 weeks and issued a full apology.

Ross is one of the Corporation’s highest paid presenters, currently earning a reported £6 million. I must admit that I struggle to understand why he's so popular. I find him not the least bit talented and rarely funny. British humour can be cruel, as I well know. It’s encouraging to know that it has its limits.