I worked at Channel 4 during the Russell Brand era. Ask me anything

[Channel4er]

I've thought long and hard about whether do do this AMA because people will probably be after salacious titbits which I neither have nor am interested in however there's been a lot of talk about Channel 4's role in the Brand affair and I thought I might be able to shed some light on what the culture at Channel 4 was actually like around that time.

In order to remain anonymous there may be some questions I can't answer. I've name changed but am a long standing MNer.

@TerryOrange1w2 Yes and no. Countless complaints and reports to police about Jimmy Savile yet nothing was done. Bill Cosby and Weinstein both raped and abused women for decades before their crimes came to light and they were prosecuted as a result. And even when they are bought to trial, some still manage to evade justice, Kevin Spacey for one.

For every celebrity and/or person in power who is successfully convicted, there will be dozens who don't even make it to court as the police haven't wanted to investigate.

@Scamperdowntherabbithole I don't think he is that much of a threat to "the powers that be" that they would do this just to get to him, he is now a fringe figure a bit like David Icke and he attracts a certain type of audience. I've seen some of his clips on youtube and some of his guests or topics have been interesting but he seems to operate like a cult leader and puts a lot of content behind a paywall, a classic grifter who seems to go whichever way the wind (money) blows too the left, to the right whatever gets him the most clicks.

The media by exposing him are also exposing themselves because men like him couldn't operate in institutions like the BBC or Channel 4 without those same institutions complicity.

Well said.

You think the Police don't want to investigate serious crime?

Words fail me.

@ehupo7 I've considered it but the main perpetrator is now dead and I can't even remember the full name of the man who tried to get me to give him oral sex in the car. I'm angry at myself for not saying more in the past but the reality is that the people at the BBC knew about this and probably lots of instances of this kind of behaviour from men and it was just seen as something women needed to put up with in order to get on. I think attitude probably exists in lots of industries, especially those where lots of people want to work there with limited opportunities, some more powerful men see that as something they can exploit to gain access to young women and on some occasions I am sure young men.

Really? That's what you got from my post? Wow. Now it's time for words to fail me.

The issue is that the police don't often take rape or sexual abuse seriously. And in many of these instances, no, the police don't always want to investigate serious crime. However now, they have the tools to do so in Brand's case. Brand's victims fully cooperated with the investigation because the police, as well as Brand's reps, had dismissed them entirely. Thank god for investigative journalism in instances such as this.

Don't both engaging me further, you are deliberately misinterpreting my words. I have no time for your nonsense.

Thanks so much. I'm going to step away from the thread now as some people seem incredibly excised that I started it.

As I explained upthread I did so because I think culture matters. A lot. Whether that's in hospitals, the police or the entertainment industry. And its as important now as it was back then. Do people genuinely feel they can speak up? What happens if they do? How do you create a culture that ensures no one is taken advantage of?

For those doubting whether I worked there, I offered earlier to share a copy of my contract with MNHQ, or if the PP who was a press officer there wants to DM I can share the names of people running or working in all the key departments at the time from press to marketing, research to legal, 4Creative to 4OD as it was. I can also share the name of the legendary guy who still pushed the trolley round every afternoon selling snacks. It was Mo if you're interested.

Someone rather aggressively stated that I could be anyone from the cleaner to the person running the channel. Who do you think saw more?

I was middle management, I don't claim to speak for everyone's experience but I thought it might offer some perspective for people who haven't worked in media. Channel 4 is a headline name that has appeared numerous times in the press and in social media over the last few days. I don't claim to state definitively whether they or Endemol or anyone else is culpable but I am able to help explain the relationship between production companies and the channel and to share a little about what it was like working there at the time.

It will be easy for Channel 4 now to say things have changed. That's always what happens, they will say it was a different era, that the people there at the time have moved on and the new regime assure everyone it would never happen today. But it wasn't that long ago and a lot of the people around at the time are now in senior roles elsewhere.

Anyway, I hope lessons really are learned.

I'm not misinterpreting your words, I quoted you exactly. And you just repeated it 'no the Police don't always want to investigate serious crimes'.

You also claim that the victims claims were dismissed by the Police. Yet the met police issued a statement

"We are aware of media reporting of a series of allegations of sexual assault. At this time, we have not received any reports in relation to this.
“If anyone believes they have been the victim of a sexual assault, no matter how long ago it happened, we would encourage them to contact police. We spoke with the Sunday Times on Saturday, September 16.
"We will be making further approaches to the Sunday Times and Channel 4 to ensure that any victims of crime who they have spoken with are aware of how they may report any criminal allegations to police.”

And yes Jimmy Saville wasn't brought to justice but Rolf Harris was. And R Kelly, Stuart Hall, Danny Masterson, Justin Lee Collins, Fred Talbot, Max Clifford, Chris Denning, Gary Glitter, Ray Teret Dave Lee Travis, Mark Page and others. Did the Police just take some time off not giving a shit in those cases?

But don't let facts get in the way of your erroneous claims thar the Police don't care to investigate sex offences, particularly by celebrities. Which is damaging to all victims who may be thinking of reporting and put off by people like you. And you don't get to dismiss me like a naughty child, who the hell do you think you are?

Good grief!

@Upsizer could not agree more as a music advertising exec in the 90s.

Ladette culture was gaslighting of the lowest form, trying to convince women they were choosing to display themselves as drunk and available was “empowering”.

Sorry @Channel4er
I'm really sad that the C4 of teens didn't match the reality of working there.
The Production Execs were awful to the female commissioner.
A male commissioner when leaving said Benifits St was his favourite work
Stuff like Bake Off being a 'kind' programme was down to Mel & Sue, the channel & Love originally wanted a much bitchier format.

TV seemed to make Production & crew hard & cynical. It should have been better. I'm glad this is all coming out but the lack of imagination in recruiting talent is still pathetic - Jeremy Clarkson, Dick Strawbridge being supported till the contracts finally run out.

So what? I've stood in a room where a female PC airily claimed that a 75 year old who had been repeatedly groped by her abusive son in law must have wanted it really...

There's one born every minute, isn't there?🙄

Pure nonsense. When it comes to serious crimes such as sexual assaults, the police don’t get to pick and choose who they believe and what they investigate. Spouting that nonsense is so very damaging.

Whether or not there is a conviction is one thing.

But the police do have to take it seriously. It's not up to them to decide that they can't be bothered to investigate complex cases.

I called 101 to report rape and other sexual offences.
The operator said he couldn't help me, but due to what I disclosed had a duty of care to have someone called back.

I was offered to go to a police station but was having doubts.

They then sent two officers to my house at nearly midnight because again, they had to speak to me.

Things progressed from there to a video interview. Professional, did their job. This was years after the offence, but they still took it seriously and believed me.

Now, it's not helpful to say the police won't do anything. Yes, there are instances of failure which require an investigation into their conduct. But discouraging victims from reporting is irresponsible.

@Defacto24 surely the bigger news story was that The Queen was cancelling public engagements in October 2022 when she’d been dead for at least a month…… This isn’t even a typo as it’s the second time you've typed this over the weekend.

’Why don’t people report these people to their employers and the police?’
There’s a singer who wrote a song about having a relationship with a 13 year old girl. He was happily DJing on a BBC radio station yesterday afternoon. They’re not interested in what the talent has done if they believe the talent is credible.

Urgh. Shameful thread OP. Doesn’t help anyone, either the alleged victims or the alleged attacker.

But fill your boots though by running a thread about your experience, I’m sure it’ll help someone, somewhere 🙄

Agree @NeedToThinkOfOne

is RB why bigbrother went to channel 5?

I don’t think ladette culture was ‘imposed’ on women who had no agency. In my view it was an evolution and a step on the road to where we are now. There was plenty of existing feminist theory and discussion at the time on the best course towards equality.

The discussion about aping / managing to assimilate with the dominant group (in this case men) vs do we have our own values, culture, approaches to bring to the table has been active for decades.

There was progress in this era. It is not bad that women said – we can have casual sex too if we want, we can go out and have fun too if we want. We are not the gatekeepers of sexual morality and we don’t have to just be simpering satellites of our boyfriends when out and about. I remember in the 80s it was considered weird for a woman to sit and have a drink by herself. Pubs and social spaces were dominated by men.

Not saying that ladette culture is the pinnacle of progress but it was a step forward at the time and the language you’ve used:

”trying to convince women they were choosing to display themselves as drunk and available was “empowering”“

reads as fairly misogynistic to me. ‘displaying themselves as drunk and available’ – really? Your perspective is all about men’s (possible) perception and nothing about women’s own first-person experiences.

Very interesting thread @Channel4er Thanks!

Huh? Was Gislaine Maxwell convicted on 'no evidence'?!! Jeffrey Epstein was convicted on 'no evidence'? I would think the public deserve access to the client list she served and to see charges brought against them. It would be a brilliant focus for a Dispatches investigation. You know as well as I do why Dispatches hasn't touched this. What a shame.

I'm quite a fan of Russell Brand's content, but of course he could have committed these crimes. Everyone is innocent (or rather 'not guilty') until proven guilty. So far I see nothing very credible and find the timing very strange, as well as that fact that such a fact-devoid documentary was the result of a whole year of investigation, aggressively pursuing anyone who had ever slept with him for evidence. I did see a supposed screenshot of a text conversation that seems to have been heavily doctored. None of that inspires much confidence that Channel 4 are onto anything.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 made my day !