Sachs later stated he had not given permission for the messages to be broadcast. In his apology to Sachs, Brand said: 'What's worse – leaving a swearword on Andrew Sachs' answerphone or tacitly supporting Adolf Hitler when he took charge of the Third Reich?' During the show, Brand apologised to Sachs, but also devoted much of the show to deriding the Daily Mail for its support of Nazism in the lead-up to World War II. Shortly before going on air, Brand was informed that The Mail on Sunday would be running a story about the phone calls. On 25 October, Brand presented his last edition of his radio show with co-host Simon Amstell, which they performed live.

Brand later said that listening to the calls was like hearing 'two idiots dancing towards a canyon'. The rest of the message and the following three messages were all characterised by Brand and Ross attempting to apologise for Ross' outburst, but each quickly descended into farce for example, Brand sang to Sachs: 'It was consensual and she wasn't menstrual', and Ross asked to marry him. In the first message, Brand joked about Fawlty Towers and the fact that both he and Sachs had appeared in The Bill, but was interrupted by Ross shouting out 'he fucked your granddaughter'. Īfter being unable to reach Sachs on his home telephone, Brand and his co-host of the week, fellow Radio 2 DJ Jonathan Ross, left Sachs four voice messages on his answering machine. Brand had briefly been in a relationship with Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. The show was pre-recorded due to Brand's work commitments. On Thursday 16 October 2008, Sachs, who portrayed Manuel in the 1970s BBC television sitcom Fawlty Towers, was scheduled to be a phone-in guest on Brand's evening radio show. According to Baddiel, Baillie said: 'Don't tell him I was here!' Prank calls Baddiel recalled having met Georgina Baillie at Brand's home and being told that her grandfather was actor Andrew Sachs. On 11 October 2008, David Baddiel co-hosted Brand's show. Brand was also joined by a variety of celebrity guests, including Noel Gallagher, Noel Fielding, Jonah Hill and Morrissey. Background įrom April 2006 through to October 2008, Russell Brand presented the weekly BBC radio show The Russell Brand Show, with co-host Matt Morgan. On 30 October, the BBC suspended Ross without pay for twelve weeks. Both Brand and Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas resigned from the BBC.

The BBC suspended Ross while it and Ofcom launched investigations. Brand and Ross were criticised by a number of MPs, including Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and the BBC received a record number of complaints. The event became known as Sachsgate or Manuelgate (a reference to Sachs' Fawlty Towers character Manuel). The incident received little attention initially, but an article in The Mail on Sunday of 26 October 2008 led to widespread criticism of Brand, Ross and the editorial decisions of the BBC. Brand and Ross called Sachs to interview him on air when he did not answer, they left lewd messages on his answering machine, including comments about Brand's relationship with Sachs' granddaughter Georgina Baillie. In a pre-recorded episode of The Russell Brand Show broadcast on BBC Radio 2 on 18 October 2008, comedian Russell Brand and presenter Jonathan Ross made prank calls to actor Andrew Sachs that courted controversy in the United Kingdom.

British kissing prank