Jonathan Ross tweets support for gay protest in Moscow
After his latest spot of bother, Jonathan Ross has been showing his support for gay rights via Twitter.
In contrast to Graham Norton and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who both expressed ignorance over Saturday’s gay protest before the Eurovision final in Moscow, Ross called Russia a nation of “backwards fascists”.
In a series of almost 100 Eurovision tweets, Ross wrote: “I am with Peter Tatchell. Figuratively. Go on Graham, say it ! They are backward fascists. Dumb ass russians.”
Around 30 gay activists were arrested during the protest. Russian authorities had warned police would prevent any attempts to hold a Pride march in Moscow.
Ross faced accusations of homophobia after suggesting that children who appeared to be gay should be adopted before they bring their “partner” home.
He later said he was “mortified” to be accused of being anti-gay.
A BBC spokeswoman said complaints had been received over Ross’s comments.
She added: “However, these off-the-cuff remarks were made purely in jest and were not intended to be offensive. Jonathan is not homophobic in any sense and never meant for his comments to be taken seriously.”
Last year, Ross was suspended from the BBC for three months after he and Russell Brand left obscene messages on the answerphone of Fawlty Towers actor Andrew Sachs.
Although only two listeners complained to the BBC when the programme was broadcast, 30,000 members of the public complained after the story was picked up by the national media.
