So it is Russell Brand

[Gro]

The biggest news story of the year is about someone who has already written books about all the stuff he has done. I will be surprised if Dispatched can say one thing I didn't already know.

Unless there’s an arrest it’s just something to rail against and get more followers

@DeadbeatYoda interesting re celebrity-groupies relationships and the power balance, with each party having something the other wants.

@Scruffington - sure he's making money, no issue. I wouldn't say he's very different from Andrew Tate. Same gullible audience who like to think they've got an inside view.

The guy used to be a drug addict, which tells you something about his approach.

Is RB a comedian or actor? never seen him in anything and always assumed he was gay

anyway, I cannot see a Dispatches special about him at all😕

I remember when Katherine Ryan did the Theroux interview and people were wildly speculating who it could be then, most said Russell Brand so this doesn’t surprise me. I liked him before he went crazily mainstream, I was a fan of him on Big Brothers Little Brother and enjoyed his first book. Hope he’s telling the truth, especially now he’s settled down with young children.

Do they?

>>European and American news media revealed QE2 was dying of bone cancer in October 2022 whilst all British newspapers were telling us she was cancelling appearances due to gout]

What european and american scoop did I miss in October 2022? The Queen died in early September 2022. I believe this was given a certain amount of coverage in the British media at the time.

I'm not remotely in the celebrity loop (I can never do AnswerSmash when it's famous people) but even I knew about RB. It can't just be him, surely?

I have a feeling this story is going to be a letdown after all the hype!

If RB, or any other sleb is guilty of rape, then I am all for locking them away and never hearing from them again.

However, it does grate that HE was allowed to just slink away… No 90 minute Dispatches programme about him.

Does no-one worry about libel any more?

The idea that there are shadowy powers gunning for RB because he has a successful YouTube Channel and wibbles about the MSM is preposterous. Shadowy Powers really don't care about YT grifters.

After the Andrew Sachs business, Brand went on to front some Hollywood movies, they flopped and no one was interested in him anymore. He was a liability, a liability for box-office flops.

Maybe the story is about the police. Perhaps 5 comedians have committed offences and the police wouldn’t proceed with an investigation? Look at the disgusting WhatsApp messages that have come to light, the officers that are rapists or domestic abusers. It’s certainly possible that their policy is to protect famous men accused of crimes.

There is obviously a bigger story with this, it can’t just be that RB, DW etc are sex pests.

Indeed. As if shadowy powers would conspire to give him more publicity and make him a martyr in the eyes of those that wouldn’t believe anything against him anyway.

if shadowy powers wanted rid of him it’s not like they wouldn’t have the means to achieve that far more effectively.

Sorry but as a victim of rape I absolutely DO care if there are - as alleged - a huge number of victims. It has implications for us all. These men deserve to be publicly dragged over coals.

I recall something saying about the photo that it was a ‘stock’ one, meaning it’s not the shadow of the person necessarily.

Who? That patsy of the government, Channel 4? I doubt it. He thinks he is some kind of political guru but its fairly easy to see through him. He's Jacob Rees Mogg in hippy form. All words, saying nothing.

No surprise with Brand but he’s not worthy of 15 mins let alone 90. I hope the Walliams performance is coming to a close.

Well if it is him cannot understand why he has not been arrested.SURELY if it is that bad the police would be involved and a TV investigation wouldn’t be allowed because it would prejudice a trial. I think the RB twist is a red herring .
Still think it’s a Royal or Political scandal!

Apparently not.

it happens every single time this kind of thing comes up.

I wonder if more people will view his statement than watch Dispatches

11m followers, apparently 8.2m viewed it so far

Just read his statement in the papers, with the watch out vibe etc

This will boost him no end

he's never been silent about his past so perhaps an easy target. Shame. I was expecting it to be someone else.

This is a deeply disturbing attitude which I've seen all over social media in discussions about this news story.

Promiscuity is not the same as sexual assault and rape. We know that serious allegations are going to be levelled at one or more famous people - that is very different to gossip about how the number of times they've had sex and who with.

Victims of crime are and those who commit crime are not your entertainment.

Those who express disappointment in who the exposé is about (especially when they claim to know that the person has committed horrific criminal acts) show that they derive a thrill from a witch hunt rather than caring about justice and victims of serious crimes and are part of the problem in bringing sex abusers to justice.

There is a big difference between what might be 'commonly known' or gossiped about a person and acts of justice to uncover the truth and test the facts, to make them accountable for their crimes. Those who are express disappointment in the sensationalism will also undoubtedly express disgust that Saville was allowed to continue his crimes in plain sight - everyone knew but no one did anything.

Well, now someone is doing something and if you don't like that then you are the worst type of hypocrite.

I used to quite like the guy to be honest. Then he pissed me right off by leveraging his own (brief) use of heroin to appoint himself a leading expert in addiction before dining out on it for years. Patronising twat.

Didn't take him long to forget about that.

There is no evidence that HE was a rapist. The alleged victim did not make a complaint and, in fact said it was untrue. There was a police investigation where they said no criminal offence took place. I mean, if my 18 year old was doing drugs and some celeb was paying him for naked pictures so he could buy more drugs, I might lie and say they were under 18 out of sheer desperation, because the police couldn't do anything. That doesn't make it a criminal offence.