Second BBC executive resigns over phone prank row
Jonathan Ross.
A second BBC Radio 2 executive has resigned in the wake of the Russel Brand/Jonathan Ross phone prank controversy, which sparked more than 40,000 complaints.
The prank earlier caused the resignation of Radio 2 boss Lesley Douglas and threw the corporation into days of turmoil.
Douglas’s resignation has been followed by that of David Barber, the Radio 2 head of specialist music and compliance.
A BBC spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that David Barber has resigned from the BBC.”
It is thought that Barber’s job would have involved checking that content complied with BBC guidelines.
The BBC has not identified the person responsible for approving the broadcast which went out on October 18.
This week, Baillie, 23, called for Brand and Ross to be reinstated, saying the resignation and three-month suspension without pay was “out of proportion”.
The BBC earlier said they will apologise to “licence fee payers” for the “grossly offensive” phone call made by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross tomorrow.
