Those Brits sure love their Thatcher

stellar argument, kudos.

Boris did say that in public, but to be fair he also apologised for saying it.

If CT's drinking companions had said "look, I don't agree with you" or "look, that's out of order" or similar when she made that remark - as any reasonable person who knew her would have done - and she corrected herself then nothing more would have been heard about it.

But someone - I'm unconvinced that Chiles and/or Brand were even in the same room when she said it - decided to throw a hissy fit and go to the headmaster whining daddy daddy thith woman thaid thomething terrible and they're the person who should be kicked out of the BBC, not CT.

no marcello, she was asked to withdraw the remark and apologised, she refused and was sacked. it's famously hard to get sacked from the bbc!

*apologise

If CT's drinking companions had said "look, I don't agree with you" or "look, that's out of order"

of course nothing like that happened and you know 'cause you were there

I'm unconvinced that Chiles and/or Brand were even in the same room when she said it

hooray for you!

also bbc one controller confirmed brand and chiles were in the room. don't let the facts get in the way.

Why should she apologise to anyone except the people who professed to be offended by her remark?

If the BBC carries on like this they won't be able to attract anyone to work for them and they'll be dead/privatised (same difference) in five years.

she didn't apologise to anyone

MC trolling scorecard: this thread rates C minus - unconvincing and transparent. Could do better.

feel that im being drawn into the hysteria but: um, has anyone brought up the shit chris moyles has got a way with on air?

away with

i think several papers have mentioned the moyles stuff. halle berry incident was particularly awkward iirc.

Isn't it the case with Moyles that his show and personality are tailored to a specific audience who know exactly what they're going to get and that those likely to be offended by him know better than to tune in?

(or, indeed, agree to be interviewed by him?)

Oscar winning actress Halle Berry (above) took great offence to Chris’ “big, fat, black guy” impersonation. She questioned if he was being racist live on air during an interview with Hugh Jackman for one of the X Men films. Afterwards he said she was "bratty” and should get over herself.

think her exact words were "are we having a racist moment here?"

Isn't it the case with Moyles that his show and personality are tailored to a specific audience who know exactly what they're going to get and that those likely to be offended by him know better than to tune in?

― Bernard Braden Misreads Stephen Leacock (Marcello Carlin), Friday, February 6, 2009 12:33 PM (25 seconds ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah well it was the same with DER STURMER.

also, i don't think 'people who listen to pop music in the morning' implies 'pigshit-ignorant racist, homophobic, sexist-liking twat'. 'if you don't like it, don't tune in' is not the best defense for a publicly funded service -- though sometimes it has to be made. not, i would have thought, of a flagship mainstream show, though.

Doesn't Berry/her agent have highly paid researchers who can find out what sort of a chap Moyles is before agreeing to talk to him?

I don't particularly like Nick Ferrari or James Whale ranting away about Broken Britain or whatever they do on their flagship LBC mainstream shows but I deal with the dilemma by not listening to them. Listeners do have the choice.

why don't you stop reading all this news coverage that annoys you so much then?

Doesn't Berry/her agent have highly paid researchers who can find out what sort of a chap Moyles is before agreeing to talk to him?

Probably, also there is the possibility that said agent (or some underling) got sacked for putting her into this.

I'd imagine they would be!

Oh, I'm OUTRAGED!

the point is the bbc shouldn't pay lots of money to plankton like moyles and ross. it sounds absurd to say halle berry and gwyneth paltrow deserve better treatment... but they sort of do! it demeans the viewer or listener to have to pretend that ross/moyles's shit is acceptable.

I tend to find words such as "acceptable" and "appropriate" enemies of humanity but perhaps that's just me.

Moyles and Ross are highly skilled and experienced and occasionally very entertaining broadcasters and the argument that people who tune in/go on their show don't know what they're getting into doesn't, in your words, hold water.

But I guess that if they're going to "sack" CT then they'll have to get rid of Moyles, Ross and Clarkson as well. It's only fair. Look forward to exciting Friday Night With Alex Lester shows from now until, um, September.

Radio is kind of less of a participatory medium than TV tho - eg loads of workplaces just have it on as a matter of course. Why, only yesterday lunchtime I was browsing crappy CDs and had to endure the voice of George Lamb

Is he still on? Another argument for delaying getting a digital radio for as long as possible.

lol @ the Daily Mail masses trying to bend their logic around supporting Thatcher and Clarkson while castigating Ross and Brand. As I understand it it's ok to insult black men and disabled Scotsmen but not old white Englishmen who do comedy Spanish accents.

xp I don't otherwise pay much attention but he doesn't seem to actually get less popular no matter how much of a prick he acts :(

xp: I totally agree, Omino - apply it across the board or don't apply it at all.

Of course if the Mail didn't have a vested interest in stirring all this up in the first place then none of this would be happening!

How come the Mail readers who love calling Jonathan Ross "Wossy" don't call CT "Cawol"?

Surely it should be "Thatchewy"?

I'm all for consistency here. The problem is (and this is where I agree with you on how the reaction to these things is disproportionate) that it will no doubt lead to someone at the BBC drafting a policy statement that sucks the life out of life.

xxxpost

i hope they do sack clarkson, moyles, and ross tbh.

Just out of interest, who would you replace them with?

Chris Evans, he wasn't offensive. Was he?

I find the music he plays pretty offensive but not particularly the man himself.

x-post Depends on your views on Ocean Colour Scene.

The Clarkson thing has nothing to do with the BBC or the Gov, though. Neither of which have commented, so far. The Telegraph/DM obviously phoned the person at the charity and said "what do you think of Clarkson calling the PM a "one-eyed idiot"? And of course he said it was offensive. The DM/Telegraph then use that as an excuse to bash the BBC, but print all the rubbish Clarkson spouts out of his arse and thus are able to have a go at the Gov. It's a win-win for them.

if only Clarkson would say something racist eh

he meant 'scottish' in a pejorative sense imo.

feeling really patriotic today reading this thread

You're not British then.

if only Clarkson would say something racist eh

It was 10 years ago...

meh, he's 'careful' to only zing nations

still, telling quote A BBC spokeswoman said: "Jeremy's colourful comments are always entertaining, but they are his own comments and not those of the BBC.

"More often than not they are said with a twinkle in his eye."

could've applied this to Thatcher (or anyone being racist, casually or not) too yes

Time for that old reliable again...

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42415000/jpg/_42415099_bowie75_203.jpg

"I think Britain could benefit from a fascist leader, twinkle twinkle"

It's totally disgusting, I for one call for a blanket ban on all so-called David Bowie records as coked-out wisecracks made 33 years ago are wholly unacceptable and inappropriate.

omg yeah, what chris moyles has gotten away with is definitely much worse - the change in climate is really apparent when you consider that he wasn't even disciplined for his shit. halle berry calling him out on air was a total "you go girl" moment

is it actually much worse? or just roughly same level?

i'm sure you can answer that yourself

How does it compare to Paris Hilton describing herself and a friend dancing to rap music as being "Like two niggers"?