Top ten Jonathan Ross controversies
Top ten Jonathan Ross controversies
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Thursday, 07, Jan 2010 01:04
With the news that TV and radio host Jonathan Ross is to quit the BBC after 13 years with the corporation, inthenews.co.uk looks at the moments that led him to title his autobiography Why Do I Say These Things?
By Lewis Bazley.
10
Abi Titmuss
A throwaway remark but one that still manages to insult a former home secretary and a former nurse/sex tape star/glamour model/reality TV show contestant
"Abi Titmuss? She's been tied to more bed posts than David Blunkett's dog."
9
Gwyneth Paltrow
After viewer complaints Ross received a rebuke from the BBC Trust for the below exchange in which he made it quite clear just how attractive he found the Sliding Doors star.
8
David Cameron
A future prime minister he might be but even the Tory leader wasn't off limits for near-the-knuckle humour on a June edition of Friday Night with Jonathan Ross, with the host asking Cameron:
"But did you or did you not have a w**k thinking 'Margaret Thatcher'?"
7
Racist BBC
Compared to his overt flirting with guests on his chat show, the below seems a rare example of Ross' obvious intellect - unfortunately, it does smack a little of stereotyping, despite his good intentions.
"How many black people have [the BBC] got working on proper shows there? You know the BBC still haven't really come up to speed. I mean they are trying, God bless them. Most of the guys you see there are either working on the door, carrying a cloth in there and cleaning up. We haven't really made the effort yet."
6
Heather Mills
Given her popularity with the public, Ross might have even won friends with comments about the former Mrs McCartney. As well as the below quips on the 2006 Big Fat Quiz of the Year, Ross also said one-legged ex-model Mills was a "f*****g liar", adding he "wouldn't be surprised if we found out she's actually got two legs".
5
Alzheimer's
The remark that showed he'd never tow the compliance line. Just eight minutes into his first show back after a 12-week suspension, Ross joked with his producer about having sex with an 80-year-old woman. It later emerged the producer's holiday anecdote, which sparked Ross' comments, was inspired by a real woman, who reportedly suffered from Alzheimer's.
"Eighty, oh God. I think you should just, for charity, give her one last night. One last night before the grave. Would it kill you?"
4
1,000 journalists
His mammoth salary - rumoured to be worth £6 million a year - was always a weapon to his detractors and he didn't help himself when 'joking' at the 2007 British Comedy Awards that his pay packet made him "worth 1,000 BBC journalists".
3
The Princes
Not one of the most infamous of his Daily Mail-baiting remarks but, for non-reactionary readers, probably one of the funniest. Discussing Fearne Cotton's 2007 interview with Princes William and Harry, Ross said the latter royal liked "sluttish women" before examining in great detail a photograph of the annoyingly ubiquitous presenter with the Princes.
"Looking at the way they talk to you I can see they find you attractive. They are not making much eye contact, look at the body language. Wills is looking down very embarrassed and Harry is virtually t*****g himself off. I'm sorry I shouldn't say that I should say t*****g oneself off...There goes the knighthood!"
2
Hannah Montana
It probably was a "comment made purely in jest" but a broadcaster with his experience should surely that jokes about homophobic stereotyping aren't acceptable in this day and age.
"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."
1
Sachsgate
So much has been said about a scandal blown wildly out of proportion by the scaremongering outposts of the media that it's best just to listen to the incident itself. In this writer's opinion, the tone of Ross and Russell Brand's calls to an elderly man was inexcusable - but the outpouring of bile from tabloid readers and bandwagon-jumping MPs who'd almost certainly not even heard the incident was actually more upsetting. To err is human - to forgive, as Andrew Sachs swiftly did, divine.