of that year, it was revealed that viewers had selected the name Cookie, but producers changed the result to Socks instead, leading to accusations of breach of audience trust. An apology to viewers was subsequently made on the programme. 2008: The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row In a show recorded on 16 October 2008 and broadcast two days later, Brand made several phone calls - along with guest Jonathan Ross - to the home of actor Andrew Sachs, claiming that Brand had sexual relations with his granddaughter Georgina Baillie, along with further apparently lewd suggestions. Later coverage in the Daily Mail newspaper led to number of complaints, and ultimately Ross left the corporation. 2009: Refusal to broadcast Gaza DEC Appeal On 22 January 2009, the BBC declined a request from the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) to screen an aid appeal intended to raise money to aid the relief effort following then recent hostilities in the Gaza Strip. Explanations cited by Mark Thompson, the BBC's then Director General raised doubts about the possibility of delivering aid in a volatile situation and highlighted the need to avoid any risk of compromising public confidence in the BBC's impartiality in the context of an ongoing news story. Because of a lack of consensus among UK broadcasters, with British Sky Broadcasting announcing it would follow the BBC's view, TV channels in the UK initially decided not to broadcast the appeal. A public demonstration occurred outside Broadcasting House on 24 January with former cabinet minister Tony Benn attacking the decision in an interview on BBC News 24 during which he read out the appeal address, and alleging that the Israeli government was preventing the appeal from being broadcast. The Guardian reported that the BBC faced a revolt from its journalists over the issue, and that they had been threatened with dismissal if they spoke out. In an editorial, the paper described the refusal to broadcast the appeal as 'taking a partisan stance' and an error of judgement. Four days after the BBC refusal, ITV, Channel 4 and Five broadcast the appeal intact on 26 January. The BBC also broadcast substantial extracts from the appeal in its TV news programmes. The BBC's decision came in for criticism across the political spectrum including from senior politicians such as Nick Clegg, Douglas Alexander and Hazel Blears and public figures like the Archbishops of York and Canterbury, although