Jonathan Ross Spared by the BBC
Jonathan Ross remains the BBC's highest earning star, despite the furore surrounding lewd messages left on Andrew Sachs' answerphone.
The fate of the BBC's £6 million star was decided in a crunch meeting by members of the BBC Trust - the organisation tasked with ensuring licence fee payers get value for money.
Ross was a guest on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show, which was broadcast on 18th October. The pre-recorded show included a segment where Brand 'interviewed' Mr Sachs by leaving messages on the veteran Fawlty Towers actor's answerphone.
During one message Ross blurted out that Brand had "f**ked your granddaughter" - a reference to a former relationship between Brand and Mr Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. The pair then boasted further about the conquest, before suggesting that Mr Sachs would probably hang himself at the news.
The 18th October broadcast attracted only a handful of complaints at the time, but the situation gathered momentum in response to a Mail on Sunday article published a week later. Since then several high profile politicians and national newspapers have waded into the row, with the overwhelming majority condemning Brand and Ross's juvenile antics.
The media feeding frenzy forced BBC Director General Mark Thompson to suspend Brand and Ross from the airwaves for what he described as a "gross lapse of taste". The BBC's late intervention has attracted further criticism of the Corporation's lack of accountability and management.
At the latest count there have been more than 35,000 complaints about the Russell Brand show.
Ross's future at the Corporation had been in doubt after his involvement in the stunt. He has been suspended for 12 weeks by BBC bosses.
Elsewhere at the BBC Lesley Douglas, Controller of Radio 2, has resigned from the Corporation. The feeling is very much that Ms Douglas, who probably had no input whatsoever into the offending broadcast, has fallen on her sword to save the BBC further embarrassment.
The fate of the BBC's £6 million star was decided in a crunch meeting by members of the BBC Trust - the organisation tasked with ensuring licence fee payers get value for money.
Ross was a guest on Russell Brand's Radio 2 show, which was broadcast on 18th October. The pre-recorded show included a segment where Brand 'interviewed' Mr Sachs by leaving messages on the veteran Fawlty Towers actor's answerphone.
During one message Ross blurted out that Brand had "f**ked your granddaughter" - a reference to a former relationship between Brand and Mr Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. The pair then boasted further about the conquest, before suggesting that Mr Sachs would probably hang himself at the news.
The 18th October broadcast attracted only a handful of complaints at the time, but the situation gathered momentum in response to a Mail on Sunday article published a week later. Since then several high profile politicians and national newspapers have waded into the row, with the overwhelming majority condemning Brand and Ross's juvenile antics.
The media feeding frenzy forced BBC Director General Mark Thompson to suspend Brand and Ross from the airwaves for what he described as a "gross lapse of taste". The BBC's late intervention has attracted further criticism of the Corporation's lack of accountability and management.
At the latest count there have been more than 35,000 complaints about the Russell Brand show.
Ross's future at the Corporation had been in doubt after his involvement in the stunt. He has been suspended for 12 weeks by BBC bosses.
Elsewhere at the BBC Lesley Douglas, Controller of Radio 2, has resigned from the Corporation. The feeling is very much that Ms Douglas, who probably had no input whatsoever into the offending broadcast, has fallen on her sword to save the BBC further embarrassment.
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