Bee Gee's fury over death joke

Bee Gee Robin Gibb has branded Graham Norton 'scum' for making jokes about his twin brother's death.

"This man I will never forgive," he told ITV1's This Morning show. "He should hope that he never crosses paths with me because I will rip his head off if I see him."

Gibb demanded a personal apology from Norton, his producer and Channel 4 for the gag he called "repugnant and repulsive".

The furious attack was promoted after Norton said: "I bet Maurice Gibb's heart monitor was singing the tune of Stayin' Alive."

Viewers have already complained about the joke so close to the death of 53-year-old Maurice last month.

An apoplectic Robin told This Morning: "Some very nasty things were said and I want to get them off my chest - in particular Graham Norton, who I used to respect and who I now detest and I think he's scum.

"He went on his TV show while my brother was dying in hospital and he said really repugnant and repulsive things about my brother's death process, which even today I still find it hard to recover from."

Published: 10 Feb 2003