Noel Fielding..

[CurlewKate]

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

Fucks sake. If Fielding ruins Bake Off for me, I'm gonna be fuming.

He dated one of the Geldof girls. Theres a clip where Bob takes over from Brand on a stage and he says 'Brand is a cunt'

It's far too much and pretty disgusting tbh.
RB has been found guilty ot rape but that doesn't mean anyone who performed with him, worked for him or even just looks a bit like him is fair game!
All these people who sagely know -after the event of course - that RB was dodgy and lining up to tell everyone they didn't find him funny anyway.
Wildly flinging names around is nicely ramping up the hysteria though

He should know you're judged by the company you keep though.

As I said above…my colleague headteacher is in prison for crimes against children….

Does that mean I should be too? Does that mean I should be judged?

Ridiculous statement.

I don’t know, did he commit crimes against children at work? Were his crimes on display for other staff to see who turned a blind eye? We know people did this for RB

This is exactly how I feel.

It would be ridiculous to accuse NF of rape based on the fact he was close friends with a rapist, but it’s reasonable to think that if they spent a lot of time together and partied together, NF would have been very aware of his behaviour around women. He might not have been present when RB actually assaulted someone, but surely he would have been aware of rumours? Of Brand’s reputation? Bob Geldof, Katherine Ryan, Sean Lock and maybe others all made comments about RB suggesting they knew what he was like. Surely one of his best mates would have known too?

If not, NF could possibly say something- doesn’t have to be a formal statement but even a comment on social media to say ‘I had no idea he was doing that’. He’s not obliged to, but the fact that he hasn’t done so does make him look a bit iffy, unfortunately.

Same goes for Jonathan Ross and anyone else who was pally with him back in the day.

I reckon a lot of people knew about Brand, but his costars would have been far down the list.

They act matey on screen but day to day they barely clap eyes on each other unless the producers put them together. It’s not an everyone in the office situation, at all - the talent stays in it’s dressingnroom mostly.

If you knew about the crimes, e.g. those hidden in palin sight as Brand did, and maintained a close relationship, yes of course.

Presumably you didn't remain close friends with a pedophile once you knew?

Agree. This isn’t about somebody being convicted of rape and now we’re clamouring to tar all his colleagues by association. This is somebody who has a years long, high profile record of behaviour towards women in his workplace and as part of work.

Did any of you actually listen to the trial? There were absolutely multiple spectators when he launched these attacks, who did absolutely nothing.

So sorry if I yes, I look at his closest circle (who made rape jokes with him and made it clear they knew about his ‘reputation’ and found it funny) with suspicion

You might be judged, but your judges might be mistaken.

I think the difference is that however horrifically widespread child abuse is, it's not The Air That We Breathe.
There isn't a culture-wide tendency to sexualise or objectify them, or commodify their bodies through legal porn or sex work. No-one's going around saying 'they asked for it', for example. 50% of them don't get paid less than the other, violence against them isn't widespread across all classes, and they don't do all the unpaid shitwork that keeps society afloat.

That is why men need to stand up and speak out - because it's not just widespread, it's a fully embedded part of a wider culture of abuse and exploitation. In fact, the fear of it is one of the key things that keeps women in their place.

We might pretend that's not so - and that all men don't in some way benefit from that status quo - but as soon as you look with any critical analysis it's undeniable.

@RaspberryCoffeePot "They dont strike me as being the same type at all. I cant imagine Noel going round raping people somehow."

Well he certainly had a jolly good laugh about rape along with his rapist best mate.

It's appalling isn't it. What a crazy way to think, if you associate with sex offenders you must be one yourself

They all laughed along, is Lily Allen and Rob Brydon guilty too??

As far as I know, they weren't RB's best mates.

They all laughed along to the rapist 'joke'. You implied NF laughing along made him guilty by association.

Seriously? Billy? Can you remember what any of them were?

I couldn't stand Billy Connolly. I might have been to young to have seen much of him. I remember him from chat shows.

I think he's hilarious.

no, he wasn't a friend of theirs and wasn't part of their social circle who WERE watching that silently. That is the difference.

First we need to get the men in these rapists lives to acknowledge that their friend is a rapist (or making rapey jokes, or comments, or acting inappropriately) and to tell them to stop or cut them off. THEN randoms can call across the street or whatever, go up to them and ask the girl if she's ok etc.

But it starts with their friends and family. That is what pp on this thread are asking for. (I know how awkward it can be since my DH and some of his friends have been through this with another of their friends, and it split the friendship group)

I guess I did. But NF must have known about RB's behaviour. They were very close. I mean, like the bestest of buddies. It would be very hard to believe that he had no clue. And he didn't just laugh, he totally joined in with the rape jokes which makes it harder to mitigate. The others laughed, yes. But I'm not sure that David Mitchell or Rob Brydon for example knew that RB was, at best, a total sleazebag. Anyway, at my age I'm tired of being a male apologist. But you crack if you like.

I'm not a male apologist thanks. RB is obviously a revolting man. This thread is about Fielding and he apparently must have known that RB didn't always obtain consent during his many encounters. Imo that is unreasonable and a bit shit tbh. How on earth would he have known??

but you weren't hanging out with him in the pub and in clubs, were you?

I have known (through work) men who have been utter vile cunts. If we ever had any cause to speak to each other, i made sure it was about work only, and shut down anything else. If they said vile things to women, or about women while i was around? I told them to STFU. Sometimes people around me backed me up, sometimes they just ignored it all. Often there was eyerolling and talk of me being a po-faced killjoy feminist. Occasionally a man would get in with the "STFU" first and that warmed the cockles of my heart.

I used to be a huge NF fan, and sort of found him ok once he got all boring and mainstream. But I was always very disappointed he was friends with RB, because I thought RB was thick and pretentious without being original or talented. I mean, Julian Barratt to RB - what a fucking downgrade.

Oh for crying out loud. RB's attitude towards women was well known. He frequently bragged about his sexual conquests and won the tabloid accolade of "Shagger of the Year". His stand-up routine and comments live on air were littered with lewd, inappropriate and predatory comments. In 2006 Danii Minogue publicly labelled him a "vile predator" and that's just one of many, many examples I could list. So are you telling me that Noel Fielding totally missed all those TV and radio shows along with a multitude of rumours and general disgust in the industry? Because if he didn't (and he didn't) then what does that tell you about NF's choice of best friend? He couldn't have objected much, could he. Would someone like that be your best friend?