The prank calls made by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand to actor Andrew Sachs sparked national condemnation earlier this year.
Message 1:
Ross: He f***** your granddaughter…I’m sorry I apologise. Andrew, I apologise, I got excited, what can I say – it just came out.
Brand: Andrew Sachs, I did not do nothing with Georgina – oh no, I’ve revealed I know her name. Oh no, it’s a disaster.
Ross: If he’s like most people of a certain age, he’s probably got a picture of his granddchildren when they’re young right by the phone. So while he’s listening to the messages, he’s looking at a picture of her about nine on a swing….
Message 2:
Brand: Andrew, this is Russell Brand. I'm so sorry about the last message, it was part of the radio show - it was a mistake."
Ross: "It might be true but we didn't want to break it to you in such a harsh way."
Brand: "No, I'm sorry, I'll do anything. I wore a condom. Put the phone down. Oh, what's going to happen?"
Message 3:
Ross: "She was bent over the couch..."
Brand then improvises a song which includes the lines: "I said some things I didn't of oughta, like I had sex with your granddaughter..."
The calls resulted in a hefty £150,000 fine for the BBC, suspension without pay for Jonathon Ross and nearly 40,000 complaints. However, is it snark? If not, how do we differentiate between snark and other personal attack?
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