The BBC has this evening suspended Jonathan Ross from all broadcasting for 12 weeks over the Andrew Sachs phone-call controversy. BBC Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas has resigned over incident.
Talks were held at the BBC into the incident as complaints about the prank calls made to Sachs topped the 30,000 milestone today. Presenter Russell Brand’s resignation yesterday amid widespread condemnation.
The BBC's director-general, Mark Thompson, briefed the corporation's governing body today after giving an interim report to the BBC Trust's editorial standards board concerning offensive messages left on the Fawlty Towersactor's answer phone.
The BBC said Ross would “be suspended from all broadcasting for the BBC for a 12-week period, ending in mid-January 2009.
Speaking tonight, Mr Thompson said: “He will not be paid by the BBC during this period. The fees that would have been paid will be deducted from his BBC contract.”
“Jonathan Ross’s contribution to this edition of the Russell Brand show was utterly unacceptable and cannot be allowed to go uncensored or without sanction. A 12-week suspension is an exceptional step, but I believe it is a proportionate response to Jonathan’s role in this unhappy affair," Mr Thompson continued.
“I have made very clear to him the central importance of the clause in his contract about not bringing the BBC into disrepute. We agree that nothing like this must ever happen again and that tight discipline will be required for the future.”
The plug was pulled on Ross's Friday night TV show just hours before it was due to be recorded yesterday and Keanu Reeves's blockbuster Speedwill air in its place tomorrow.
The BBC Trust, which represents licence-fee payers, said editorial controls must be strengthened.
It was “dismayed” by the “offensive comments” which “fell so far short of audiences’ legitimate expectations” and represented “an abuse of the privilege given to the BBC to broadcast to its audiences”.
The Trust has ordered Radio 2 to broadcast an on-air apology, and said the BBC had fallen “way short of the public’s overall expectations”.
The BBC has said it does not keep tallies of complaints made to it, but the objections must rank as one of the highest numbers of protests the corporation has received about a programme.
Only a couple of complaints were initially registered, but the number rocketed as the row gathered steam, with even British prime minister Gordon Brown wading in.
Media watchdog Ofcom is also investigating the phones scandal.
Brand said last night he took “complete responsibility” for the incident, which he blamed on getting “caught up in the moment”.
The pair left messages on the Fawlty Towersstar's phone saying Brand had slept with his granddaughter Georgina Baillie (23) and that he might kill himself after discovering about the encounter. Ross and Brand were both suspended before Brand's resignation and a stream of apologies has followed.
Ross apologised to Sachs personally and issued a public apology for his “juvenile and thoughtless” remarks.
Brand paid tribute to Ross in his resignation statement last night, calling him a “great broadcaster”. He said Ross had been “silly” but “was not malicious” and added that he was a “lovely, kind, gentle man who did something a little bit silly”.
Brand said: “We made a mistake, crossed the line . . . What we did was wrong.” He said he had not thought the prank would have such great “repercussions”.
He continued: “I didn’t think about it at all. I now acknowledge it was a really, really stupid thing to do, particularly as Andrew is an actor and comic performer that I very much admire,” he said.
Speaking to The Sunafter the pair's suspension, Miss Baillie said: "I'm thrilled because justice has been done. Let's see what Ofcom choose to do about it. I don't know how it's going to go from here.
“I’m really happy with the investigation. Me and my granddad are both really happy because it could have damaged our reputation permanently.”