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LONDON - The BBC said it was standing by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross after the British presenters made a series of obscene phone calls to Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs, that left him "deeply upset".
They left messages on the 78-year-old's answer machine during a pre-recorded show saying that Brand had slept with his granddaughter.
Sachs, who played the waiter Manuel in the John Cleese comedy had failed to respond to a call for an arranged interview for Brand's BBC Radio 2 show, so the comedian and Ross, who was a guest, decided to carry on talking to his answering machine.
Brand, 33, said he had "respect for your lineage and progeny" at which point Ross, 47, blurted out "he [expletive] your granddaughter", referring to an exchange at the start of the show - which was pre-recorded, not live - to uproarious laughter in the studio.
The first one of the pair to realise this may not have been an appropriate thing to say was Brand, who almost immediately told Ross: "That's his answer machine, even if we cut it out of the show, it's still on his answer machine."
After discussing how Sachs might hang himself as a result, the pair made a string of calls in which they ostensibly attempted to apologise but continued to leave lewd messages.
On his next show, Brand issued an apology for the calls.
Sach's agent Meg Poole said that she had emailed and written to the BBC to complain about the calls but the BBC insisted it had not received a complaint about the incident.
- INDEPENDENT
