Baillie in Documentary Tonight!

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water… it appears that Channel 5 will be screening a documentary on the whole farce tonight, entitled “Russell & Ross: What the Fuck Was All That About?”

Five’s documentary will also look at the impact on their careers of the controversy following Brand’s now-infamous BBC2 Radio show on October 18.

In addition to Baillie’s interview, the programme will also feature what Five calls, “previously unseen footage of Miss Baillie in action as she performs with her four-piece burlesque dance group, Satanic Sluts Extreme”.

Well surprise bloody surprise.

There will also be contributions from Baillie’s publicist Max Clifford, who could get a poxy mouldy potato in the national press.

baillie wants Ross and Brand reinstated

Make your mind up love! It was only a few days ago that you demanded they were sacked, and were acting like you wanted them castrated.

Now in a Channel 5 interview, Baillie has said she believes Ross’s three months suspension was ‘out of proportion’. Really?!

Baillie said “I was really angry when I said I wanted them both to be fired, but I think the suspension was good enough. So I’m feeling a bit gutted really about the whole thing.

“I think it’s way out of proportion what’s happened, and I don’t hate either of them, I don’t at all. I think they’re really talented comedians and I think a world without Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand would be a very sad, dull place.

“You know I think Russell needs to learn a few lessons about respecting women, definitely, and maybe Jonathan Ross could maybe think before he speaks in the future. I don’t have any harder feeling than that.”

Well that certainly makes a change. Could it possibly have anything to do with some advice from a Mr Max Clifford who probably told her that everyone hates her guts and thinks she’s taking advantage of the whole situation, and that she needs to tone everything down a bit?

She added: “I want to keep performing with my dance troupe. And all these modelling offers have come through which is quite interesting. I thought about doing modelling a few years ago but was told I was a bit too chunky for that, but now all of a sudden I’m not, so that’s great.”

No honey, you’re still too chunky, it’s just that you’re the flavour of the month. Next month you’ll be old news and chunky again. Unless of course you go in for Celebrity Big Brother or some other tripe to boost your dropping exposure.
“So I think I might be doing a bit of modelling, and I’ve also done a bit of acting in the past, so I might try and get back into that.”

Maybe some thanks to Russell and Jonathan are in order for bringing you and the other sluts into the public eye? Just think, your granddad supposedly was very distressed over the whole affair, and you’re making money off the back of it. Is that just getting on with your life?

have your say

So far 37500 people have complained about the whole situation. Did those 37500 people listen to the show? Or, are they actually all Daily Mail readers who have been told that they should be offended.

Why is there not a process for registering anti-complaints at the BBC? That would work really well, all the positive anti-complaints are subtracted from the actual complaints giving an overall score. So if 40,000 people registered an anti-complaint then the show would have a score of +2500 meaning it was good.

Unfortunately, there isn’t. So here’s your opportunity to register what you feel, if you think it’s all fuss over nothing, or that the reaction of the public and media is perfectly proportional.

ross quits comedy awards

Ross may have been suspended from having anything to do with the BBC for the next 12 weeks, but he seems to be imposing a total ban on himself.

Ross stepped down from presenting the show, and no one has been selected to take his place.

A spokesman for the entertainer said the British Comedy Awards was “a show he very much enjoys being part of.”

However, he added, Ross did “not want his participation in this year’s event to take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners”.

Peter Fincham, ITV’s director of television, said his decision had been made “with the full support of ITV and the show’s producers”.

satanic sluts show off

Surprise, surprise. It would appear that as part of “just getting on with my life” Georgina Baillie and her dance troupe the Satanic Sluts have posed in some sexy photos for the Sun.

I hope that Andrew Sachs is proud of how Georgina is coping with this whole terrible, distressing affair.

Read the full article here.

Radio 2 Head Resigns

Lesley Douglas, head of Radio 2 has resigned in the fallout of Sachsgate.

Douglas, who took up her post as controller in 2003, admitted in her resignation letter that it had been a “painful week” for Radio 2.

She said: “I am proud of what we have achieved together over the years and I shall miss you all.”

Ross Suspended for 3 months

Jonathan Ross has been suspended for 12 weeks without pay.

In an unprecedented step, the BBC’s highest paid star will not appear in any BBC broadcasts for the next three months, costing him approximately £1million.

Ross will miss around sixty TV and radio performances over the next three months.

He was due to record eight more editions of his Friday night TV chat show – made by his own production company Hot Sauce. But the entire series has now been cancelled. His three-hour Radio 2 show on Saturday has been pulled.

He will miss out on several editions of his weekly Film 2008 show.

He has been banned from appearing as a guest or contributor on any BBC radio or TV programme.

Saturday’s episode of recorded sports quiz They Think It’s All Over, in which Ross is a contestant, is expected to be shelved.

And he will miss out on hosting next month’s Royal Variety Performance.

“He absolutely overstepped the mark,” said the director general, Mark Thompson.

“A 12-week suspension is an exceptional step, but I believe it is a proportionate response to Jonathan’s role in this unhappy affair.”

“I believe that he fully understands the seriousness of what has happened.

“We agree that nothing like this must ever happen again and that tight discipline will be required for the future,” said Thompson.

Is this now the first step down a long slippery slope of censorship? If entertainers are scared to put a foot wrong it will stifle creativity and stop people coming up with new formats, gags, and ways of keeping us happy. Yes, if there is no punishment for getting things wrong then there will be the occasional mistake and people might be offended. However, if limits are imposed how will the shows we love develop?

Jury Out on Ross

This afternoon a meeting between the BBC Director General Mark Thompson, and the Board of Trustees over how to deal with the situation.

As Brand has already quit, the focus will be on Jonathan Ross.

It will be difficult for the Board to find a reason to actually fire Ross, as although he may have been a participant in the offending phonecall, it was not ultimately his, or Brand’s, decision to broadcast the show.

Many people are also in uproar as Ross is still being paid whilst on suspension, approximately £16,000 per day.

Well, that’s the law, so get a grip. The suspension is not a punishment in itself, it’s merely allowing an investigation to be run.

From the direct.gov.uk website on disciplinary procedures:

“The first step in the statutory minimum procedure is a written statement by your employer setting out the ground (for example, your conduct) that has led them to consider disciplinary action. It may also explain the reasons why they think they have that ground for disciplining you.”

“Your employer can suspend you while the issue is looked into. You should be told why you’re being suspended. To make it clear that this isn’t a punishment, the suspension should be on full pay. You keep your employment rights and if you don’t get the right pay you can claim the money as an ‘unlawful deduction from wages’.

Your employer will need to investigate if there’s a complaint against you, and may ask you for a statement. The investigation should be unbiased, fair and reasonable – it should seek to establish the facts and not just collect evidence against you.

You should be given copies of any information that comes out of the investigation.

If you decide you wish to resign from your employment, your employer can still choose to carry on with the disciplinary investigation if they wish.”

So that’s what’s been happening this morning, to the letter of employment law.

Hopefully, the board will decide that Ross is not actually at fault, and he shall be cleared of any wrong-doing. We’ll find out later today when a statement is made.

Noel Backs Brand

Noel Gallagher, a regular guest on Brand’s Radio 2 show, has shown his support.

“At worst it was a juvenile prank that wasn’t unfunny – but it’s hardly offensive,” Gallagher said.

He appeared almost weekly on the show, which Brand has quit after making lewd phone calls to actor Andrew Sachs.

“I feel bad for Russ, ’cause he really loved doing the show,” Gallagher told BBC Radio Ulster’s Across the Line.

“I loved being on it as well.”

Gallagher said he was “outraged” that columnists in the press had “dictated the tone and are telling people how to behave”.

“It’s so typical of the English in general – 10,000 people get outraged, but only five days after it has happened.

“You know what? There’s now a massive divide. Them and us,” he added.

Meanwhile, other presenters gave their reactions at the National Television Awards on Wednesday.

Dermot O’Leary, who also hosts a Radio 2 show on Saturdays, said: “It’s really sad. He was brilliant on the radio.

“I loved listening to him. He’s a lovely lad, a nice colleague.

“It was a bit silly what he said, but then it was a pre-recorded show so there’s a debate to be had over whether the buck stops with him or not. But I’ll just miss him, that’s all.”

Big Brother host Davina McCall said she thought Brand – who worked alongside her on the reality TV show – and Ross were being “silly boys”.

“I think that they both got a bit carried away and I think that they both should have just promptly apologised, straight away and from the heart – and meant it.

“But that’s all it was, they were being silly boys.”

Baillie Reveals Romp

So Mr Andrew Sachs, what do you think about this? Your granddaughter is apparently outraged that her name was besmirched on a radio show with 400,000 listeners… yet has now decided to tell the Sun newspaper about the night she slept with Brand. The Sun’s readership totals 8,011,000!

Double standards?

Andrew Sachs’ granddaughter Georgina Baillie told the Sun that Brand pranced around the bedroom yelling “I know nothing,” “Qué?” and “I learn it from a booook.”

She said: “The fact my grandfather was Andrew Sachs clearly tickled Russell. But I never thought he’d use it to cause such a lot of damage.

“He seemed obsessed by the idea that he was close to Manuel’s granddaughter. It was only a coincidence that he found out because Fawlty Towers came on his telly when we were together.

“But if I had known then what I know now I never would have told him. In fact I would have never have gone near him. There’s nothing decent about Russell Brand — he’s a despicable rat.”

Georgina said she was “horrified” by Brand’s crass insensitivity.

She added: “The thing that really upset me was that Russell kept on repeating his ‘joke’ even when I had asked him to stop.

“He first repeated it with David Baddiel on his show and then with Chris Moyles, all within a matter of days. It seemed he was enjoying the whole thing which makes it more despicable. I sent a text saying, ‘Please, please stop’ but he sent one back saying, ‘I’ve apologised for it publicly now and if anything else concerns you give me a call’.”

However, she seems to have forgotten that she herself volunteered the information when she met David Baddiel at Brand’s house, “I’m Manuel’s granddaughter, but don’t tell him I was here.” and that this fact was actually broadcast the week before the Sachs calls were made. The Satanic Sluts, Baillie’s dance troupe, were actually proud to have been mentioned, posting a link to the video on their MySpace account, which has since been removed.

Read the full Sun article here