BBC Yanks Comics for Prank Call

The BBC suspended two leading comedians for a prank call that infuriated 18,000 viewers and that even the prime minister called “inappropriate and unacceptable,” the news service reports. Foul-mouthed Russell Brand—who, stateside, offended abstinent teens at MTV's Music Video Awards—and Jonathan Ross told a 78-year-old actor that Brand had sex with his granddaughter.

Brand apologized after an uproar from listeners. The victim's granddaughter also laid blame with the BBC, which she says showed "appalling lack of judgment" by not pulling the prerecorded prank. Neither she nor her grandfather, Andrew Sachs of Fawlty Towers fame, plan to press charges, but a watchdog group is determining whether it will fine the BBC and the comedians.
(More Jonathan Ross stories.)