Galloway has offered Gaunt out...

[luke]

sorry to be the bearer of bad news ... but i think he's back next week

[faceless]

yeah, it seems so - but he's on 'This Week' tonight, so that will be interesting.

[nekokate]

I just heard Rich Herring's take on this, which amused me.

"Surely that councillor is the exact opposite of a Nazi - he's trying to STOP poisonous gasses going into children"

[faceless]

haha, that's a cracker

[faceless]

It seems that Gaunt isn't back on this week after all - I'd not like to see him sacked as much as I'd like to hear him air a grovelling apology for being a twat...

[nekokate]

Yeah, there's no way he deserves to be sacked over this. He's a twat but he deserves the same treatment as everyone else.

[mickyv]

He has gone !!

Nevermind eh !

[faceless]

[nekokate]

I hate to say it, but I would sign a petition for his return. This is a ridiculous over-reaction. Jon Gaunt is a fucking wanker, but if we indulge in any sort of schadenfreude over this then who's next? Maybe Galloway will say something similarly trivial and he'll be following Gaunty out of the door!

Fucking bullshit, this.

[faceless]

yeah, I'm not happy about it myself - the councillor involved was more than capable of taking an insult and I very much doubt that anyone listening actually complained because they were insulted.

[Raven]

the only person responsible for this situation is gaunt himself, what goes round comes round and it has come round and bit him in the arse big time.......

x

[cobweb]

Freedom of speech works both ways and it means letting eijits you don't agree with having their say as well. As noted it the thin end of the wedge and although Gaunt is an ignorant tub o' guts he shouldn't be sacked for this but heavily fined and suspended.

On another thought does this mean that accusations of Nazism and shagging peoples grand-daughters now equates to the same thing?

[Colston]

Gotta agree with all three of you. As much as I don't agree with him or his communication methods he has a point of view and a constituency of sorts with the same and deserves for that to be heard and then mocked and laughed at...

The sacking could be the thin end of the wedge... let's hope not.

[faceless]

Jon Gaunt: I'll be back
Nov 20 2008
By Helen Thomas
www.coventrytelegraph.net

COVENTRY-born shock jock Jon Gaunt has vowed to go on to bigger things after being sacked from his radio show on TalkSport. He is also seeking legal advice after losing his job as the host of the station's weekday morning show. The outspoken radio presenter and Sun columnist was sacked after branding a councillor a Nazi live on air.

Gaunt, who said he is "bemused" by the sacking, was discussing the issue of banning smokers from becoming foster parents with Redbridge cou ncillor Michael Stark when the debate became heated. He later said he had meant to say "health Nazi" and apologised to the councillor but TalkSport decided to terminate his contract.

Gaunt said: "I accept I was too aggressive and I regret some of the words I used but not the passion. I never thought he was a member of the Nazi party. I had already written in The Sun that I felt (the decision) was more like health and safety Nazi control of every part of our lives. I just think children should be put first. I don't agree with smoking but if there is a choice between a child having to live in a residential centre or being given a foster parent who smokes there's no contest to me."

He said the recent controversy surrounding Russell Brand's BBC Radio 2 show has made radio bosses more wary. "Of course people are nervous because of what happened with Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross but what Ross said was gratuitous. It was horrendous and had no comedic let alone political merit. I said nothing of the sort yet I have lost my job," Gaunt said.

One of the reasons he says he is so passionate about the subject is he spent some time in care as a child before being taken in by his aunt, a smoker. "Without her I wouldn't have achieved what I have. I was going off the rails. This woman, who happened to smoke, would have been denied the chance if this rule about foster parents not smoking had been in place. I think that's wrong. She saved my life and I can't hide that passion," he said.

"Fans who have been there from the beginning know who I am. I'm honest, I say what I think and sometimes that upsets people. There were 48 complaints to Ofcom about me last year and (TalkSport) didn't criticise it. In fact they praised me for being the most controversial radio presenter out there."

Gaunt grew up in Radford and attended Blue Coat School in Stoke. After gaining a drama degree in Birmingham University he returned to Coventry where he set up his own theatre company, TIC TOC. He later joined Radio WM and then sister station BBC Coventry and Warwickshire before moving on to national radio. He also appears regularly on television and writes for the Sun.

He will be returning to the city tonight for a talk at Coventry University's Ellen Terry building as part of the Coventry Conversations series. The free talk starts at 5.30pm and members of the public will have the chance to ask questions. Gaunt will also be appearing at Coventry's Belgrade Theatre next year.

--------------------

His point seems clearer now, but if he'd bothered to listen to the councillor he'd have heard him say that there are always exceptional circumstances where family members wouldn't be subject to the same rules.

[Colston]

That is Gaunt's forte... not listening.