Jonathan Ross

And very very common in the Victorian era too among the middle and upper classes.

Maybe not to you but back in the day it was quite normal for 16,17.18 girls to marry older men because they had jobs and could take care of them. Back in my day, nearly everyone wanted to get away from their parents and strike out on their own. These days, they live with their parents until they're 30 or 40 and are vulnerable.

That is incredibly sad - sorry but your mother sounds awful

I’m not defending Johnathan Ross by any means but apparently they rehearsed it before and it was planned for Aisling to respond with that (which is actually a bit from her stand up)

Exactly. Shows how ridiculous this is. It's beginning to turn into Salem style witch hunts.

Oh dear. She had a friend who dun something bad which she had nothing to do with. Presumably you want her cancelled too.

What exactly would you have him report? If all he had to go on was rumour and gossip, what would be done about it? Police aren't going to investigate a man saying he thinks another man has been grooming 15 year olds.

I don't think its ever been normal for a 26 year old man to have a relationship with a 16 year old.

The problem isn't Ross reading out the joke about Walliams, the problem is he could publicly state in front of millions of viewers that Walliams was taking drunk 15-year-olds home and it didn't dent Walliams's public reputation in the slightest!

I’m going to defend Jonathan Ross on the basis that he’s always publicly paid homage to his wife and family, there has never been a whiff of scandal regarding infidelities or lechery. In fact he has always referenced and talked adoringly and lovingly of his wife since they were married.

Yes, he behaved laddishly and oafishly with fellow TV stars who were incredibly popular at the time. It was the kind of edgy stuff going on in a number of programmes - Chris Evans, Sacha Baron Cohen were doing similar stuff. National treasure Graham Norton started his career with a chat show populated with filthy innuendo and old ladies posing with sex toys….

JR didn’t write that line. Yes he could’ve refused to say it, but why would he have? He would’ve trusted the writers and producers in an industry he’s been successful in for decades.

I think YABU.

They have a deeply alarming collection of friends though. I hadn't realised she was a screenwriter so I went on a quick Google and this Wikipedia entry is intriguing

Alongside her husband, broadcaster Jonathan Ross, Goldman appeared as a character in Neil Gaiman's short story "The Facts in the Case of the Departure of Miss Finch" in 1996. Gaiman is a personal friend of the couple.[37][38]

A little extract from Gaiman's Wikipedia ....

In July and August 2024, five women accused Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse. All five were interviewed on the Tortoise Media podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. One, using the pseudonym "Claire", was also interviewed by The New York Times.[178] Claire described non-consensual kissing and groping by Gaiman after meeting him at a book tour event, as well as a $60,000 payment from Gaiman to her in August 2022.[178] A woman identified as "K", who also first met Gaiman at a book signing, said that during their relationship he subjected her to painful sex that she "neither wanted nor enjoyed".[21][179]

Scarlett Pavlovich, a former nanny for Gaiman and Amanda Palmer's child, alleges that Gaiman sexually assaulted her within hours of their first meeting in February 2022

They certainly seem to have desperately poor judgement when it comes to friendships

But a witch hunt is probably underway. His comments on that Andrew Sachs incident were beyond the pale but he got the sack. He now has a programme on Classic FM which is easy listening and perfectly acceptable.

He’s been married for decades to an extremely good scriptwriter and has zero form for bad behaviour.

It really wasn't, no one except someone extremely dodgy would have thought that was ok at the point that awards show happened

Them was my last sentence.

No idea what this previous post is supposed to be about. The only thing I know is that Jane Goldman left school at 15 and forged an incredibly successful career for herself and married JR at 18 and hasn't claimed any complaints about being abused, vulnerable or powerless. Believe it or not, there are still women around who manage to do that. The only people I see working in my local shops and restaurants are young migrants who presumably don't feel abused, vulnerable and powerless and can't work. This country would probably collapse without the

There is an episode of 2 point 4 children where Jimmy Saviles radio show is mentioned
Jennys line was "i dont want him coming into my bedroom thankyou Obviously meaning over the radio but there was ambiguity there.
Some were using public mediums to sound warnings

Jane is incredibly accomplished in her own right as a screen writer, film producer and author. She met JR when she was writing for a music magazine. She chose him and they have stayed together apart from a brief separation. And yet you are intent on painting her as a victim just because she was 16 when she met him in his mid 20s. What does this say about attitudes to young women now? Are they all victims who can only go out with a chaperone as in Victorian days?

I don’t think this is true.

I'm saying it likely shows he was aware and if he was he should have reported it properly rather than making it a laughing matter.

I'd always had Brand and Walliams down as creeps, Ross I have down as an idiot rather than creep.

So are you saying @Redbags that even if it was a genuine attempt by JR to call out David W it wasn't taken seriously? Which is very different from accusing him of colluding with the bad behaviour.

Exactly, of course it shouldn't be but that's how it was treated.

He is so gross, a real creep IMO.
The age gap with his wife completely tracks.

He was sacked