Stop Witch hunting ross and Brand: by Peter Tatchell

[morningpaper]

Stop Witch hunting Ross and Brand

soooooo totally agree with this article

I am wondering which comedians will be fired next?

I guess people won't be happy until the BBC is running costume dramas 24/7.

I care even less about that UQD!

yes, he is being replaced my Andrew Sachs in a cunningly cruel and ironic, graceful swoop. Hopefully then no-one will watch it and it can die peacefully in a dark corner.

Agree custy

lol at sgb. Quite.

jb put it like that - who looks like the hypocrite? yep good ol' auntie

UQD I feel you should start a thread about that

mabanana I agree with everything you say on this thread

"she admits she slept with Brand"

Oh, Peter - my heart sank.

The scale of the thing is totally ludicrous now though.

The BBC are making a huge mistake if they identify the JR/RB schtick with edgy comedy. It's possible to be edgy, offensive and actually funny - Jerry Sadowitz eg

Oh this is typically Tatchellesque rubbish.

If JR and RB had left homophobic abuse on someone's grandad's ansaphone, he would have been up in arms about it.

Taking the piss out of the splits don't matter though.

is tjhat true bella? because ofcom didnt uphold the complaints against jim davidson with his shirt lifter comments after all

Tatchell is being a total hypocrite as well. Do you think he listens to radio stations where homophobic Jamaican music is played? Or goes to concerts where they perform? Of course he doesn't! He got upset when the lyrics were pointed out to him! which is IMO perfectly reasonable, but not according to him!

Jim Davidson was sacked INSTANTLY when he made the shirtlifter comments. He was taken off the show that day, to his shock, and has not been employed since. Now, how is that taking homophobia less seriously??
The BBC also instantly banned all homophobic lyrics.

Peter Tatchell is one of my heroes but I don't agree with him about this. Agree with wasabipeanut that he's conveniently ignoring the poisonous effect of 'lad' culture. Also agree with mabanana that his dismissal of Baillie because of her sexual history/stage persona is extremely ill-judged.

I think I must be in a minority. I don't care what they said. I just care that they said it to somebody's answering machine, and that Russell Brand's audience might be the kind of people who think sending nasty texts and other kind of electronic bullying are funny. For me its the medium not the message.

Radio 2 producers shouldn't think its OK to leave nasty messages on elderly people's answering machines. I know things have changed, but surely R2 is also the home of the TOG.

Well I think they're knobs but I couldn't be bothered to complain. I'm sure far more people who think they're knobs DIDN't complain than DID complain.

So it's a very apathetic laid back witch hunt. Very wealthy witches too.

ofcom refused to uphold the complaint is what i was getting at here; the woman involved said she hoped ofcom would deal with it

Me and Bobbiewickham in the minority together then.

(Hi PW!)

Oh no,

What will I listen to on Saturday mornings. What will I drink wine to on Friday nights!

On long late journeys....no radio.

BBC returns to dull, polite correctness.

Perhaps I should get satellite T.V. now.

Comedy will become dull...because comedians won't want to offend and a lot of comedy is offensive to someone.

Yes policywonk, as though agreeing to sleep with somebody is a disclaimer against ever retaining any dignity or privacy in the future.

Not just sex you're agreeing to, but you should half expect that you could be gossiped about ridiculed, or even, PUBLICLY DISRESPECTED INFRONT OF THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

He sounds affected by lad culture himself.

Completely agree with Liffey.

I love the BBC and would happily pay double the license fee. That's why this episode irritates me (although I do think it is possibly time that the newspapers started to talk about a couple of other things).

Blackrock, comedy shouldn't zone in on ONE individual. It wasn't offensive to slutty dressers, or gothic wannabe musicians in general.. ONE girl, named, on tv.

That's taking minority too far. One person.

I think the Ofcom statement was pretty good - that the remarks were horrible, and that he was shown, rightly, to be a horrible person because of them. THe remarks were immediately and effectively challenged on screen, and he was immediately fired, so there was swift and effective action to remove him from our screens. We can compare and contrast this to the current situation.

OK I'm being very lazy here, caught site of a newspaper, 'The Times' on my half hour lunch break today, and read that Russell Brand had actually met and maybe had sex with Andrew Sacchs granddaughter. Am I right, been really busy so ignore me if you want. Still not great to broadcast it but that's what immature lads did at school.

Liffey, I agree that what they did was very offensive. I am just disappointed that the BBC have taken such a drastic measure. It's like school, on TV!!

They apologised. Their future work will be compromised by this episode, unless they are beyond my imagination in terms of a comeback.

I enjoyed their work and am disappointed to lose it, at a time of year when I actually watch the TV.

What's the point in suspending Johnathon Ross on £13,000 per day. It's disgusting and all being paid for out of our licence fee. They might as well make him work for his money.

Russell Brand prides himself on being a stud. Otherwise what's the point in him anyway.

He's being suspended without pay.

I heard he was getting 13 grand a day whilst suspended.