Storm in a teacup or...

So there's been a bit of a fuss over some comments left on an answerphone by Jonathan Ross & Russell Brand last week.

Ok what they did was juvenile and could be seen as insulting, but surely a closer look at some of the main facts are needed. Firstly, the show was pre-recorded and played out with a producer in the control room putting the music and news etc in.

Now I'm no expert on radio, but wouldn't there have been some method of cutting the "offending" material out when it was being broadcast? Also wouldn't it have been an idea for senior production staff to have a listen to the show before it went out? This is Russell Brand for crying out loud, not a man known for not causing offence (he was fired from MTV for turning up on 12/9/01 dressed as Osama Bin Laden).

Yes the 2 of them should apologise for leaving the messages in the 1st place, but surely to pay for the prank with their jobs is taking things a little too far? The Daily Mail wants them sacked and will probably research their respective family tree's to find a hint of "Johnny Foreigner" in there so they can be "sent back to where they came from". But that's the good old middle english way of doing things! If anyone should face serious consequences for this, then it should be the BBC management (probably a middling layer) who decided not to make the usual checks on pre-recorded material that the Corporation is supposed to carry out.

The other thing is, knowing his reputation, he probably has had her and seeing as she's one of The Satanic Sluts burlesque outfit, there's a chance that a fair few people will also be able to say "hey Manuel, I cracked one off over your granddaughter!"