Due to the recent events following Jonathan Ross’s and Russell Brands prank call to Andrew Sachs, he has decided to stand down from hosting ITV’s 2008 British Comedy Awards.
Ross has been suspended without pay for 12 weeks and the BBC have issued a final warning regarding his conduct on the Radio 2 Broadcast earlier in October which caused thousands of complaints.
ITV’s director of television Peter Fincham commented: “We respect Jonathan’s decision to stand down from the 2008 British Comedy Awards which has been made with the full support of ITV and the show’s producers.” The event will still be broadcast as scheduled on ITV1 in December.
A spokesperson for Ross said: “It’s a show he very much enjoys being part of but would not want his participation in this year’s event to take away from the awards themselves or the many talented winners of the awards.”