It’s interesting to look back at his formative years, particularly that period before he married Katy Perry and courted Hollywood, so around 2004–09? For me, he really exemplified that era, which had a zany, surreal, anything-goes quality to it. At the time, me and my friends liked him! We thought he was funny, charismatic and outrageous. I certainly didn’t have him pegged as some awful person with evil eyes. He was just part of that cultural landscape and his humour and behaviour seemed to exemplify the attitudes of the time.
It was a peculiar atmosphere in the Uk around that time. There was the whole indie explosion, which had a glam rock and roll aesthetic to it. The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, The Kooks, The Cribs etc. Skinny jeans, leather jackets, messy hair, vintage clothes. RB wasn’t the only one looking permanently dishevelled and smelly, that was the ‘look’. There was a real romanticisation of the chaotic, drug-taking, hard-partying rock star and along with that a sense of excess around relationships and sex. You had Amy Winehouse and Blake Fielder-Civil, Kate Moss and Pete Doherty, and this whole fascination with wild, volatile men and chaotic relationships.
Tele and comedy had a similar sensibility if you remember. Mighty Boosh, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Nathan Barley etc. Everything was surreal, eccentric, deliberately inappropriate and out there. Russell Brand was part of that scene originally. Don’t forget, he first became widely famous through Big Brother's Big Mouth. At the time BB contestants were plied with alcohol, with producers hoping it would lead to sex and rows that made headlines. Absolutely crazy when you think about it now!
On reflection it was a pretty dark and hedonistic time. I wonder whether that also created an environment where quite a lot of unpleasant male behaviour was simply tolerated. The sleazy frontman, the obnoxious comedian were written off as laddishness, charisma, eccentricity or just being rock and roll. There seemed to be a romanticisation of men behaving badly particularly if they were funny, creative or famous.
To be clear, I believe he is a predator and feel so much sympathy for the poor women and girls he abused. I think as the years went on he became more and more twisted by fame and his celebrity status fuelled his narcissism and sense of entitlement. But I do think there’s a wider conversation to be had about the media’s role in creating and encouraging the persona he became famous for (in the early days at least). I’m glad for young people that things are different now. It was a weird time to grow up as a young woman.
I’ve been watching clips of some of his earlier tv appearances on Alan Carr, Jonathan Ross and Graham Norton. What’s striking is how much all of the presenters seem to cajole him into being this outrageous caricature. They’re prompting him, encouraging him, playing along and the audiences are absolutely in stitches. Funny how quiet they all are now.