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BBC apologises for putting the ‘C’ into Ronnie Corbett
Editor used the offensive word to decribe the comedian after he pulled out of The One Show
Ronnie Corbett yesterday became the latest recipient of a grovelling apology from the BBC after it transpired that one of its senior executives referred to the much-loved comedian in a staff memo as a "little cunt".
Upon hearing that Corbett had decided to pull out of a planned appearance on The One Show, its editor Doug Carnegie immediately sent out an email, containing the slight, to a production team of more than 60 people.
The incident occurred last month and might never have come to light had Carnegie's choice of words not offended one member of staff to the degree that they passed the email to the Daily Mail.
The whistleblower is quoted as saying: "'He [Corbett] gave a very reasonable eight days' notice but Mr Carnegie's response was to describe him as a 'little cunt'" I am not the only member of the team who was disgusted by this email from a highly paid BBC manager."
To his credit, Carnegie, upon hearing that the email had been made public, got in touch immediately with Ronnie Corbett's agent and emailed through an apology. However, it is understood he has not yet spoken to the star.
It is the latest in a long line of recent gaffes emanating from the BBC, the most famous being the 'Manuelgate' episode in which Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand left a series of lewd messages on the answer-machine of Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs, concerning his granddaughter. Brand resigned from his Radio 2 slot and Ross was suspended for three months.
Another public embarrassment involved The One Show. Carole Thatcher, daughter of the former prime minister, was axed as a roving reporter for the early evening TV show after she compared a black tennis player at the Australian Open to the "golliwog" on the old Robertson's jam pots. ·
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The BBC is ,like the Labour Party,detined for the dustbin of history.
Both are relegated to the "bottom division" after their recent dismal performance and cost-overuns.
Mr Carnegie's insulting behaviour toward a much-loved performer is only one aspect of this story. Is there a culture at the BBC that considers such language to be acceptable? As an employer, I would take an extremely dim view of a staffer using such offensive language in any context. Mr Carnegie can be as common and vulgar as he wishes privately, but such behaviour should never be acceptable in the workplace.
We need to get tough with the BBC. They act like little tin gods and patronise the public like archbishops at a tea party only to broadcast filth and ordure over the British airwaves, and they expect to get paid for it. The management treat our beloved Ronnie like dirt in a general email, and expect not to get outed for something so inept and crass and unnecessary. The one statistic I find meaningful in all of this is that the BBC licence tax fee is still in existence. There are plenty of sensible Brits who only watch commercial channels and films, and they are still forced to pay the licence tax. It is an insult. They should be forced to make programs people will pay to see like all the other stations or go out of business. Let's abolish the licence tax, that will make them more respectful.