Noel Fielding..

[CurlewKate]

… is very silent about Russell Brand, isn’t he?

J R is usually all across Halloween - low profile this year.

Someone turned up a clip of Brand from 2013 where he says ‘I raped someone once’. So yes he did in fact tell not only his friends but all of us.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/09/18/video-emerges-russell-brand-joking-i-raped-someone-once/

I don’t think telling rape ‘jokes’ automatically makes someone a rapist, but if someone mentions rape a lot they are telling you something about what’s on their mind.

I judge people by the company they keep. Enough said.

Exactly this.

Every time I think we have reached the limit of horrifying it gets worse. How does this stain on humanity get so manly female flying monkeys helping his cause?

David Baddiel was a very good friend of RB as was Noel Gallagher. Not sure why Jonathan Ross and Noel fielding should get all the opprobrium

Thing is though in lots of spheres of life you can be judged on the company you keep. He was quite clearly associated with Brand alongside some other comedians of the era. I have no doubt though that Brand was enabled by those around him- his bosses, his peers etc and lots of people in his sphere have a part to play in that as do the pic who celebrated him.

Regarding NF, the older I have become, the more horrified I am at older men starting relationships with young girls.it may be legal but I’d be extremely suspicious of any man in his 30s dating a 16 year old.

That’s it then, he’s as guilty as sin because he looks like him (which he doesn’t).

So if everyone knew that he was actually a rapist, we are all guilty then aren't we, not just the people who knocked around with him.

I am just so appalled to learn of this, I feel sick just trying to imagine what this woman must have gone through - silenced and prevented from talking about her experience to anyone even family and friends.

I hope there is pressure now to overturn this injustice. I know Jemima G has a history of humanitarian work - well, I'm afraid that may well be permanently overshadowed by the fact that she joined forces with a convicted rapist in silencing and bankrupting his alleged victim.

@Lomonald

Yy. Remember Bill Wyman and Mandy Smith?

I like Julian Barratt too. He was great in Bloods, with Lucy Punch from Amandaland.

Do you judge the wives who get the knock on the door and have their lives turned upside down because their husband has been downloading indecent images of children? I guess they all must have known and should be judged by the company they keep...

only got to the end of page 3.

I think that we generally want men to call out other men for their behaviour, and not associate further with their mates who are wrong 'uns.

So i would expect now that Brand has been convicted, his friends and acquaintences would maybe think about their encouragement (or silent acceptance) of his behaviours and realise that they ARE part of the problem. MVAWAG isn't just for women to sort out, it is for the men who say "yes but NAMALT" but don't actually help solve the problem.

Perhaps rather than putting out individual statements (which seems self-important and "look at me"), one of them could write an "open letter" and the others could append their names? I am heartily sick of the "but he was a great comedian" or "i didn't actually see him do it" etc etc. Stand up for women.

As an aside, Noel Fielding looks like a stilt house now.

An absolute unit on very spindly pillars.

I agree - I would love to see a joint letter that acknowledged that All Men Benefit as I said upthread.

I think that point - rather than just 'Down with bad things like rape' could really change the discourse.

If they say nothing they are criticised for not speaking out; if they speak up they'll be criticised "look, they can't wait to distance themselves". Whatever NF chooses to say and when he chooses to say it it's going to be very difficult to get it right for people who have already made a decision about him.

FWIW I don't particularly care for NF but I doubt if he was that aware of Brand's crimes. I really hope not, anyway

HRTWT so apologies if this has been raised already

was also thinking about Baddiel and Skinner back in the day - I remember lots of jokes about trying to get women to have anal sex…anyone remember?

By the reasoning on this thread then, your husband was part of the culture-he saw this and said nothing, which according to many on this thread makes him very suspect.

This thread is nuts at times
The argument that a celebrity must have known about Russell Brand’s alleged behavior simply because they are friends relies on a flawed premise, guilt by association .
People who use the phrase "you are judged by the company you keep" assume that perpetrators of sexual assault openly share their actions with their social circles. My own life experiences completely disprove this.
Over my 60 years, I have personally known two people who were later convicted of rape, and in both cases, their social circles had absolutely no idea.
The first time it happened was during my youth. A guy from our secondary school friend group—someone we stayed close with throughout our teens and 20s—was convicted of rape. We had absolutely no clue that he was secretly waiting late at night for vulnerable women to walk past. The shock and pain our friend group felt when we found out was devastating.
The second time it occurred when I was in my 40s. A man we became friendly with at a local canoe club was arrested and convicted of raping a 14-year-old.

If we apply the logic of "judging people by the company they keep," critics would unfairly judge me and my friends for crimes we knew nothing about. We didn't ignore warning signs because there was none, we didn't make excuses for the perpetrators, and we certainly didn't engage in victim-blaming bullshit like asking "what was she wearing?" or claiming "she asked for it." The moment we found out, we immediately disassociated ourselves from them.

Also statistically, the percentage of women who report experiencing rape or sexual assault in their lifetimes is incredibly high. By extension, this means a vast number of everyday people—both men and women—unknowingly have a rapist or abuser in their wider social circle.
Abusers routinely hide their crimes from their friends, colleagues, and communities to maintain a normal public image. You cannot automatically blame or judge a friend for a predator's secret actions.
No one on here really know what's going on with NF.

Haul them in.

I find this thread very worrying. Trial by Mumsnet on the basis of....

I'm surprised it hasn't been pulled.

This this this.

@TheNightScentedStock i was commenting more on the culture of the time that allowed this behavior rather than suggesting everyone is a rapist

We are judged by the company we keep aren’t we? So that’s making up huge swathes of what’s going on here

Bear Grylls probably did the right thing by releasing a statement distancing himself from Brand. I don’t know exactly how ‘close’ RB and NF were / are but it would seem sensible to do something to publicly distance yourself. Unless he can’t of course …

Bit like ML isn’t it? I await his statement distancing himself from DW once all that properly comes out

and I commented this on another thread but JR… it’s very much a gossipy anecdote and that’s ok it should be taken as but decades ago I worked for a media company in London. One of our journalists had cause to go to JRs house and he came back absolutely full of what he’d heard… something to do with JR watching / having snuff films. I can’t remember the ins and outs of it all but it came back to me with all the RB stuff and his link to him. Like I said - it’s just a story I suppose but all these little pieces add up to something really unpleasant and I think we are entering an era where all these men will quite rightly be scrutinised

These men should all be out out to pasture (or worse if they're proven to have done bad things). They are not wanted anymore. Piss off

Ross
Fielding
Fry
Walliams
Lucas
Carr
and any other men we can think of from the same shit stable.