Comedian off the air after lewd messages
British comedian Russell Brand quit his BBC radio show on Wednesday after he and fellow performer Jonathan Ross were suspended indefinitely for leaving lewd messages on-air on the voicemail of a 78-year-old actor.
The calls to Andrew Sachs -- best known for playing Spanish waiter Manuel in the 1970s Britcom “Fawlty Towers” -- have drawn more than 18,000 complaints from the public. Prime Minister Gordon Brown called the comments “inappropriate and unacceptable.”
In the ad-libbed messages, the pair said Brand had slept with Sachs’ 23-year-old granddaughter, Georgina Baillie, and joked that Sachs might hang himself after hearing the news. Baillie, a burlesque performer who acknowledged that she had a sexual relationship with Brand, said the calls were cruel.
The men made further calls to Sachs in which they tried to apologize but continued to blurt out lewd messages.
Brand, 33, and Ross, 47, apologized.
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