Brand/RossGate

I’m going to come into this one a bit late, now that the hype around Russell Brand,Jonathon Ross, and those phone calls has faded a wee bit.

First of all, I didn’t hear the calls when they went out. Secondly, I’m not a great fan of either Brand or Ross, as I tend to think they’re both pretty much complete cocks at the best of times.

However, I don’t think that Brand deserved to lose his job (resign, quit, whatever – he still lost his job) for being a cock. I don’t think that Ross deserved a three-month suspension for being a cock. I do think that the producers of Brand’s show should have been fired – something which I don’t know whether it’s happened or not – as the calls were pre-recorded, and should’ve been checked pre-broadcast. And I think that the R2 controller should’ve fired the producers, not quit herself.

My personal opinion is just that the entire thing was Daily Mail-fuelled spite and hysteria (not for the first time) considering that at time of broadcast, a grand total of two people complained, and the complaints only exploded in number once the Daily Bigot had gone up in arms about it. (As usual, the Guardian’s Charlie Brooker sums it up far better than I ever could)

Yes, Brand and Ross are utter cocks. But they’re paid to be utter cocks. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up for debate – if I had control of a radio station, I wouldn’t employ them, but as I don’t, I’m left with the option to just not bother listening to them, or watching them. Which is in fact pretty much what I do. And that, so far as I can see it, is how things should be – we can all make the choice of who to listen to – and if we want to complain about something they’ve said, then fine – but at least complain about something that you’ve heard, not what some hate-mongering bigoted black-shirt rag tells you to complain about, or be offended by.