Fantastic article from India Knight - I totally agree with her comments. I have always found Jonathon Ross smutty and sexist. Every female on his show finds herself the victim of his leering. These men make other men laugh at the expense of women. Time for some female presenters to replace them.

Helen Garcia, Telford,

Hysterical? Would you not describe the reaction to the whole situation as that of hysteria. The medical conditions are irrelevant, this is a witch-hunt on a high profile figure and nothing else.

ben, margate,

"Brand, whose issues with sex addiction"

Is there now a medical condition such as "sex addiction"? Every Psychiatrist or Psychologist that I have spoken with has told me that it is a made up term, not in the DSM.

Please, if you are going to be hysterical can you use actual conditions?

Steve, Derby, England

I for one am not looking at Andrew Sachs as a "doddery old gramps", and neither have I seen him described as such anywhere else. Those are your words. What I am looking at is two "talented" 33 and 47 year olds on £200,000 and £6,000,000 per annum respectively who lack common courtesy and judgement.

Alan Jennings, Stockton on Tees, England

It might have been Ross' inflated salary that wound people up but he isn't the only one losing out on wages. What about all the people who worked on his TV show and radio show?

SBH, Harrogate,

David, I do understand your grievance, but I have sadly come to the conclusion, since I started reading the comments on this very site a few months ago, that a great number of men do feel very hateful towards women. Not most men, but enough to deeply concern me. I wish this issue would be addressed.

Caitlin, Sevenoaks, UK

Excellent article, India - you put the whole thing into perspective, particularly since it has been so completely blown out of proportion by the rest of the media. Insightful and intelligent - and I had never noticed that point about Ross' shtick but you are completely right.

Melissa, Reading, UK

These two presenters are facile, quick, willing to say anything - that is, to me, a long way from 'talented' or even 'funny.' If it takes an article this long to justify their behaviour, they deserve what they got. They were potty-mouthed and got slapped. Calm down, India - you protest too much.

Carson, Leatherhead, UK

If Jonathan Ross really was so entertaining why did such few people watch his show? There were more viewers watching Watchdog than Friday Night with Ross! He lost his way as an entertainer many years ago and substituted rudeness for wit. He will not be missed.

Dennis Irving, Leeds, Great Britain

I agree with India Knight! Unlike many of the supposedly 'outraged', I heard the show and understand what happened. Both are dominant personalities and normally have quieter radio sidekicks. As a double-act, they just egged each other on like schoolboys. It should have been edited out by production

L Baker, Surrey , UK

I LOVE Russell & Jonathan Yes they got it wrong this time but how dare some of you think I'm a moron for enjoying their shows I don't believe you would've listened to/complained about the 'offending' broadcast if it wasn't for the publicity. I loathe Songs of Praise - do I complain? Life's too short

Lianne, Warminster, UK

India, yours has been the only critical view of the whole sorry saga I have 100% agreed with, and I was one of those who enjoyed both Ross and Brand, on the radio particularly. I had not thought of the misogny in those terms before, but the point is well taken.

Andy, Doncaster,

So agree with your article. Thank you for sticking up for fair-mindedness. This has been a dreadful witch-hunt with Ross and Brand now aunt sallies for a baying mob. Context and intention are the key and they were not being malicious. P.S. I think Brand's schtick is far, far wider than you suggest.

Kathryn, Bedford,

Please NAME the comedian who ALL BBC listeners
found hilarious ALL of the time? that is the nature of comedy this upset certain listeners and they should be warned but they are obviously entertaining to a great number of people less they simply couldn't command such high salaries or listeners

Malcolm, Newcastle, England

"Clever" and "talented" are adjectives that I could never apply to Brand or Ross. Ross's interviews are dreadful, both are cringingly unfunny. It's immaterial that the controller was a woman - unless you are some sad conspiracy theorist. Forgive her lapse - but dump Brand and Ross.

Stephen, Sunderland, UK

What has been blown out of all proportion are the views that Brand & Ross are talented.

Most didn't realise the vast sums Ross got paid, hence the outrage. You would think the BCC could find something better for that kind of money. At least Brand has gone to fail in the USA. Good riddance.

Paul, Toronto, Canada

Shame on Rob for ageist statements. Anyway you're wrong about the 50s.

I might just as well say that it's the younger generation who can't spell.

Maggie, South London, uk

Not about Ross n Brand..., more that its grown ups & and not kids who pay for the BBC.. I used to think it was hilarious staring at people on the bus till they got really upset when I was 15. Now its not funny cos I've grown up. Don't want my money paying for that kind of stuff. Thats all.

Ja, London,

Best thing I've seen written about all this.

Hal Satterthwaite, london,

"Also, if my granddaughter was a self-styled Satanic Slut then being told that she had slept with some celeb would be the least of my worries, frankly. "

So, India, only as long as she was "pure" would it be a worry. What vile standards some women apply to others.

Rosemary, Southampton, UK

Thank you for a sane, balanced article in what has been a tsunami of hate over this past sad week. I miss Brand and Ross very much. I pay my license fee as well and no-one asked me whether my favourite programmes should be removed.

Linda Martin, East Grinstead, UK

Great article - really sums up how I feel about the whole saga! Well done for putting a large proportion of the general publics up in lights!

James, Cheltenham,

Lewis Hamilton's victory / Kevin Eason's article today
I am appalled that Kevin Eason can write a character
assassination of Lewis Hamilton on the day of his triumph. Is this necessary or contributory journalism or just a sick old penpusher looking to think of something different to say. Sad times!

tony beeson, Egham, UK

A BBC management team and leader I don't admire, hire performers I don't watch, and in the case of Brand, had priorly never heard of. My licence fee is going to make up an £18m pay packet for what is known as talent. Sorry, I must have misheard. Talent?

John Goldman, Thetford,

completely agree with India, sums up the whole thing really well. in fact this is the most sensible and interesting comment ive seen on the matter

Suzy Doyle, London, UK

Any women encountering Ross or Brand should remember how Elizabeth I rebuked her male advisors: "Had I been born crested, not cloven, you would not speak to me thus?"

Michael, Hexham, UK

The statement that all (or perhaps most - the meaning wasn't clear) men hate women says a lot about sexism in contempory society. The fact that it can be written in a column in a quality national newspaper without criticism shows that contempt for men is now so normal that it isn't even noticed.

David, Stoke, England

They cannot be defended. To defend them is to admit that it was OK. It was far from OK, it should never has happened. End of story, lets move on.........without both of the overpayed, underperforming chumps. Replace them with better examples for our children.

Neil, Chester, England

Why should taxpayers pay for this garbage? Withholding TV licence fees is justifiable given the rubbish shown by the "esteemed" BBC.

Michael Murray, Carmel, IN, USA

Rob F: As a young adult I strongly feel the message must be sent to all broadcasters that it is NOT acceptable to behave in such an indecent manner. Many of the sheeple of our generation take their cue from celebrities, and if they see their idols acting like jackasses then they think it acceptable

Lilly, London, UK

Why didn't India Knight complain about her treatment on the Russell Brand show? Where's her self respect?

Karen, London, Uk

Brand is no big loss, for all the reasons India presents, plus his silly mannerisms. Ross, however, i will miss - his shows are fun, even if he is a bit heavy on the 'totty'.

As Ross is not to be paid for 3 months, do we get some of our license fee back?

Oh dear, another decision for execs.

A Wipperman, London, UK

Saying that one can always turn the radio/TV off does not address the problem of what is legitimated in such shows: the constant sexual bullying of women and their objectification. These men, utterly unopposed, have for too long humiliated women for cheap laughs, it's pay-back time!

Emma Dryden, London, U.K.

loved india's article. wossy and brand are brilliant and i for one have finished with the bbc tossers...........do you think anyone will notice

daisy, surbiton, england

Ms Knight does not represent my way of thinking or even my language. Maybe its time to think who we might prefer to comment!

Tricia, Torquay, UK

By your rationale if thousands of people paid their licence to hear podcasts of galdiators killing each other it would be a good enough reason to broadcast it.

Steve Mac, Perth, Australia

We used to watch Ross but his chat became more and more about his genitals like he had just discovered them. And, his constant harping on about sex, like he was the first and only one to be discovering it. For that reason we stopped watching as he became a big bore. Hope our sons grow up better.

CHIQUITA, Thundersley , Essex

No. sorry. Doesn't wash. It was nasty and bullying what they did. And worse, unfunny. I have nosympathy whatsoever for them. I'm not a prude but I know crossing a line in civility whn I see it.

dede ross, New York, USA

The only people who complained were those waiting for god.
My generation love the pod casts that Russel does.
And the one one he did with Ross was a classic.

Those that don't agree are obviously in there 50's and need to worry about there pensions more than the podcasts russels does

rob ferrara, london, England

Normally I find India's articles to be spot on but I disagree here. Those supporting Ross and Brand miss the point about the furore surrounding their "joke" -- they deserve to be made an example of in the interests of fast-disappearing decency and taste. No big loss if they never return to radio.

David Freel, Brighton,

Weekends made joyous by those two ? you can't be serious !

I am speechless.

Maggie, South London, uk

'...their brand of humour...is what audiences tune in for in vast numbers.'
Surely, the Ross Brand of 'comedy' includes the 'off the scale sexism' and to edit out that element is to deprive those vast numbers, those 'millions', of their cutting edge, creative comedy 'entertainment'?

m collins, Leeds,

It is a complete coincidence that the Radio 2 Controller is a woman. Is India Knight suggesting that, if the controller was male, they would have emerged unscatehd from all this? If she is, I'd like to read her reasoning behind that.

David Mills, Balham, UK

"For the millions who downloaded Brand’s podcast every week?For the millions whose weekends were made joyous by Ross?"you guys live such a sad life.lol Just for the record, India Knight ,30000 complains but that does not mean they are the only ones unhappy by this childish behaviour.Bunch bullies.

Tiago, London,

Pretty "boys" Ross and Brand used access to a private telephone number to make undignified comments on an answering machine. This was deemed "edgy comedy". How about them getting even more edgy and they do something similar to Vinnie Jones?

bernard pike, reading, berkshire

Surely you must agree that something had to be done? We should not have to depend on the programme to be edited to keep out this infantile rubbish posing as entertainment. What happens when the 12 weeks is up for Ross?

Jacques, Pinner, Middlesex

Given the author's wide knowledge on all age ranges, I resent the phrase 'as though he were a simple-minded toddler'. She is insulting my two (toddler) sons hugely! They are funny, creative, inquisitive, have brain cells which are more active and learn more daily than the average student, and kind

Katie, Leamington Spa, UK

I totally agree. The joke was undeinably in poor taste, but the media frenzy over the "vile nature" (Quoting the Daily Mail) made them seem like the devil incarnate! 30,000 complaints weren't from regular listeners (2 complaints were filed that night ), they came from those who hate Ross and Brand

Jennifer, Exeter,

Instead of mellowing into maturity Ross is regressing, at break kneck speed, into adolescence.His talents,or lack of them, like the Emperor's new clothes have suddenly been revealed for what they are:cheeky chappy; repetitive;nauseatingly tedious nonsense-especially for his female interviewees

B Connolly, london, uk

Billy Connolly once described another comedian as "as funny as cancer". That about sums up these two immature egocentrics.
Their humour is not adult, it is juvenile. And the licence payer is paying their wildly inflated wages. THAT is what sticks in the craw.

MaxC, London,

Where do you get 30,000 members of the public from? I haven't complained but find the entertainers low quality and vastly overpaid and the incident purile. I suspect there may be a few million who agree.

Richard, Huntingdon, Cambs

When Marco Materazzi insulted Zinedine Zidane's sister during the 2006 World Cup, Zidane headbutted him. No-one quipped that Materazzi was indulging in 'cutting edge humour.' Insulting a chap's female relations was always a short cut to cheap maxillo-facial surgery. Ross & Brand ought to know that.

William Mortimer Moore, Cheltenham, UK

Unfortunately Brand and Ross are clearly the same type of lowlifes as the couple sentenced in Dubai for shagging on a beach.
I believe the BBC must take a great deal of the blame for the appalling decline in the decency of life in Britain.
To think we used to call it "Auntie"

John W Meadows, Los Altos Hills, California

I would like to point out that despite being a woman Lesley Douglas obviously has no respect for them - otherwise she would never have given the misogynists Russell Brand and George Lamb jobs. I'm glad she has lost her job and something good has come out of this mess.

Emma, Colchester, England

Fantastic article.. I think you have summed up the whole debacle very well... I have listened to Russell Brand for a long time and I know that I didn't like everything he said but on the whole I found him very intelligent and very funny. I will miss his show greatly.

Natalie, Leeds,

Everyone misses the point. The extension of the incident has enabled a lot of people to comment, such as R2 colleagues of these buffoons. This reveals the undercurrents and failures at the BBC. Had not the bloodletting been forced on them, that would not have happened. Maybe hope for the future now.

Tom, Bedfordshire,

I think everybody should chill out. Andrew Sachs spent a fair part of his career being abused by John Cleese, his granddaughter is part of a troupe called Satanic Sluts? All of my TV's and radio's come with both an off button and a channel chooser, I don't watch/listen to stuff I don't want to.

Karl Hart, London, UK

Unfortunately, both these quick witted performers are highly unsuitable broadcasters.
Ross, because he has a speech impediment and Brand because he seems incapable of communicating in English or pronoucing the letter 't' in any word even in 'IT' when it is 50% of the word!

Robert Hitchcock, Redditch, England

Ross and Brand were behaving like a pair of hysterical teenagers, egging each other on, extemporising wildly, riffing with the joke until it got completely out of control,

But that is what they are not, Teenagers or Hysterical, just insultingly unfunny.

Pru, Staffordshire, England

Arguably it was Douglas who felt it was acceptable to use the BBC budget to commission a show where the premise was to leave abusive messages on the answer-phones of members of the public, albeit "famous" members of the public.

Andrew , Derby,

It is no surprise that it has come to this for Brand and Ross..Brand the cruder more offensive and disgusting..Ross the led follower who obviously has gay tendencies...
They should be absolutely ashamed of their behaviour and Brand in particular never ever appear on tv or radio again!

June Randeria, Essex, UK

India Knight, Janet Street-Porter, Mark Thompson, Peter Tatchell and several other "luvvies" - you just don't get it, do you! Defiant to the last drop of ink, you think you can change the way the great British public feels about the Ross/Brand incident, but you cannot! We are defiant, too.

Mike Mitchell, Spalding, England

Knight is missing the whole point here - she needs to say to herself over and over again "eighteen million pounds for acting the goat - eighteen pence yes, but not eighteen million punds "

richard, bangor, Gwynedd Wales

James, are you suggesting pregnancy is unnatural? What India suggesting that women weren't mollycoddled during pregnancy in days gone by and treated as if they were gravely ill.

And I would suggest that the vast majority of deaths of women are associated with the act of childbirth, not pregnacy.

Matt, Cardiff,

I know Indiaworld is a simple, black-and-white place, but even there I would have thought there would be enough intelligence to realise that just because someone doesn't complain officially, it doesn't mean that they agree or approve of the actions under discussion.

ricky, Birmingham,

I could not agree more India: sexism seems to be not only tolerated but applauded and celebrated on TV with women commonly reduced to whether they are 'do-able' or not whereas men are praised for their achievements. We do not condone racism or homophobia, so why the double standard for misogyny?

A Taylor, Royal Leamington Spa,

I find Ross rather creepy. Instead of a dirty raincoat, he sports a suit!!

Pregnancy is not an illness. And no, all my kids are bright and happy. I had the odd drink, and cigarette whilst carrying them.
All have been/are at good Uni's.

Carrie, London,

Vulgar, abusive, coarse, immoral, crude, juvenile, tasteless, ugly, sexist, obscene. All adjectives I've read about BBC "comedy" today. It must be time to swill out the pigsty and get rid of the smutty schoolboys.

David Cotterell, Cheltenham, Uk

India Knight says: "However: their brand of humour, which no one is forced to listen to". This brand of humour crossed the border into criminality and infringed on a person's rights, and yes in this case, I am forced to listen.

Mike, Croydon, UK

clever, talented? I have only seen Brand once and remember mostly use of the F word. Not impressed, Certainly not multi millions pounds worth. It shows how slebs and media people are out of touch with reality Are these people worth so much more than a top surgeon or research scientist Surely not

bill, ely,

the problem is India, that every body has their own idea of normality. It is well known eg that alcoholics have great difficulty acknowledging their illness.
Smoking is not normal by any standard , it is introducing toxic substances into the body. Before the 19th C for ceremonial purposes mainly

bill, ely,

Pregnancy is to alcohol what passive smoking is to tobacco - a high level attempt to change attitudes through false association rather than reason.

It's dangerous to teach people to read because it diminishes the ease with which when they can be persuaded by such imagery.

Simon Stephenson, Windermere, UK

Ross/Brand - what's the fuss? They've done what they do best, behave badly. Mr Sachs didn't want to take it further (sensibly) but the press ensured everyone knew of this broadcast. Instead of Ross' excellent show (sorely missed) we've been inflicted with policitians desperate for a bit of publicity

sam, London,

The Ross/Brandt phone message is not funny by any stretch of the imagination, and I like adult humour - this isn't adult humour - it's about humiliating and causing discomfort. Funny comedians laugh at themselves and cause us to laugh at ourselves. Then again, they're not comedians.

Alison McCurrach, Le Dorat, France

India Knight has got it absolutely right. I must admit I was part of the clamour to get shot of Ross and Brand and I still dislike their "humour" and the salaries are ludicrous. But the whole matter has been blown up out of all proportion and should now be dropped and Lesley Douglas reinstated.

Diana Brooke, Salies de Bearn, France

There are a lot of licence holders who do not agree that "talented presenters" have the right to swear and insult without real humour anyone at all. Many are also very upset at anyone who insults the Queen who is unable to answer back. Brand especially is no role model for our youth.

B J Deller, Marbella, Spain

The furore has little to do with Ross/Brand & everything to do with a public feeling powerless & shafted by greedy corporate fat cats. The public will flock to the smell of corporate blood being spilled. Witch hunts will follow this as the public at last starts to find its voice, look out banks!

Matt, Bournemouth, UK

"I hate the way pregnancy is increasingly treated as an illness rather than just a natural state."

A "natural state" that kills 1% of pregnant women who get no medical assistance.

James, Dublin,

Thank you for writing this, you've put into words what I think. Not just about the whole ordeal but about they way that women are treated in the media and that hardly nobody bats an eyelid.

Emily, Market Drayton, United Kingdom