Today Jonathan Ross was cleared of causing offence (yes, again) to a group of 61 people who presumably have nothing better to do with their time or their stamps than complain about Jonathan Ross. Just to be clear – you are not in a time warp.
Fear not, it is not October 2008 and you will not spend the next month and a half being bored and flabbergasted as ‘Sachsgate’ dominates the tabloids. This may all sound familiar, but today’s ruling from Ofcom’s refers to a completely different case and a completely different insult (although it is probably the same group of people complaining). Jonathan Ross continued on his offence offensive in May when he made “offensive and derogatory” comments towards gay people on his radio show.
After saying, “If your son asks for a Hannah Montana MP3 player, then you might want to already think about putting him down for adoption in later life, when they settle down with their partner”, he immediately turned to Twitter to defend his honour, claiming he was “mortified” if anyone thought he was homophobic. But it was too late, the complaint had been lodged. Ofcom today said that Ross was not in breach of the broadcasting code.
While Jonathan Ross’s loose chatter is certainly keeping Ofcom busy, it isn’t doing much for his career. He is expected to be given a £4.5million pay cut this year and in the week of Sachsgate he was suspended for 12 weeks. Sachsgate definitely damaged his relationship with his employer, Ofcom handed the BBC a £150,000 fine over the scandal. Will he ever learn? Here’s a top tip from Media Mentor, Jonathan: Think before you speak!
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