Russell Brand

[Wassapp]

AIBU to think... 'here we go again?'

Anyone watching? I've always said 'innocent until proven guilty' but also 'there is no smoke without fire'.

Having been sexually assaulted myself, one of the stories seem so similar to mine.

What's your thoughts?

This is the most confusing post, I know. I just don't know how I feel.

What programme? I must have missed it. Where can I watch it on catch up please? Thanks

What difference does it make if the women would have went to the police? Those who think they are lying would think that they lied to the police as well as Channel 4. It is such a cop out opinion as so few rapists get convicted when their victims report them. Those who want to excuse monsters like RB will do so whatever evidence is presented to them. And are we forgetting that the man is a pedophile who only raped girls who were 16 and over because he could throw the consent law in their faces if they were to ever accuse him of something. He must've known he wasn't as protected as Saville and wouldn't have got away with raping children.

Dispatches on Channel 4. It was on at 9pm and I am guessing it will be on the Channel 4 website to catch up with x

So just ignoring the power dynamics of abuse, rape, sexual assault and unequal relationships then?

I agree with this. It is very sad if it is true and begs the question why didn't people feel they could come forward sooner instead of all now.

Part of me wonders if his exposing of corruption with our government and other things has lead to this coming out now and therefore it is useful to start believing these girls now and their stories were ignored before.

If it isn't true, it's just another trial by media isn't it? Shows the media have too much power really and are getting involved in police matters when they shouldn't be. Either way it makes them look pretty shit as well as Brand.

I watched it and felt triggered from an incident that happened to me when I was 14 years old when I was sexually assaulted, not by Russell Brand I should add!

But my experience was it got blown up and made into a joke by "shit head teenagers" and made my life an absolute nightmare for the rest of my school life.
Why am I writing this?

Well, just to show Russell Brand isn't actually the decent chap some of you will be parading him to be.
As part of a "conspiracy".

I will however admit I was expecting something a bit more explosive than Russell Brand.

He has been preparing for this for years - that's why he has the books and makes a big deal of explaining how ever so clean and reformed he is now.

For those of you saying it's a criminal matter well it's very difficult to prove anything so long ago the programme talks about FOI requests well it's been longer than the allotted time for records to be kept. Also why would any of the women want to put themselves through the trauma of publicly coming forwards? I myself haven't in 26 years (can't exactly prove it now can I?)

My point is I really really hope the world is different to the one 20-30 years ago when it comes to women supporting women. When it comes to men preying on younger women I hope it is different to how it once was.

I mean that many online comments are trotting out the line that he’s promiscuous and likes sex, is a bit risky etc. implying that rape is somewhere along this continuum. There is no continuum, there’s consensual and non-consensual.

@Tigertigertigertiger ”Women in this position should just decline to give their number to him or go back stage”

Despite your protestations this sentence alone makes you sound very much like a victim blaming apologist.

This ^

He went to rehab and got clean and sober in 2002. All of the allegations in the documentary were about incidents which happened after that. Drink and drugs played no part in his behaviour towards the women included in the documentary.

Just scrolling through TikTok and he's appeared on the FYP

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZGJWgUXs3/

Basically he's quoting the bible and Jesus' speech - forgive them father they know not what they do etc etc. the really disturbing thing is the comments though, so many supportive comments to him especially the ones favourably comparing him to Andrew Tate and saying the media is out to get them. Some negative comments but mostly positive from what I can see.

I don't really know how to describe what I mean but that mentality of oh well I've found god now so all my sims are past and forgiven and you can't hold me accountable because religion. At least that's the impression I get

I don't think he was hiding at all. It was obvious he was reckless, charming, with no boundaries, disrespectful of women and authority. It sounds like a cliche but he's exactly the type of man that mothers warn their DDs about. There are millions of men like him.
As I said on another thread, what makes it all upsetting is how familiar the stories are. Every woman has either been in one of those situations or has a friend/loved one who has been.
And yy an article and a 90 minute programme is great but ultimately it's not going to deter his fans. And I just kept thinking what about the rest of the men in entertainment, the media, the police, the medical profession, etc? Why is this not a wider reckoning? Why are women and girls always dispensable?

I've just read Brand was cheered by the audience at his gig tonight. Lovely.

One journalist calls him a "toe rag" - that's not the picture dispatches painted of him

Like

I am a survivor too and watching it made me feel sick. I used to find him quite amusing, loved his first book and thought it was very honest. Went right off him at the time of the Andrew Sachs phone call he did with Jonathan Ross and couldn't understand why it was not career ending for both of them. Saw little bits of his YouTube programme and thought it was nuts and vaguely wondered why he had chosen that particular path. I had never heard the chat he had with the odious Saville, why was this not aired everywhere when the truth came out about Saville? The foul smugness of both men was chilling, one predator having a right laugh with another one, both of them getting an additional thrill of hiding in plain sight. A lot of the "thrill" does seem to be about fooling lots of people while dropping huge clues about their true nature. It is complicated, confusing and disturbing. And for people who say why don't the women go to the police , well I did and despite my attacker (who was a stranger) being jailed, the whole process from his arrest through to the trial (three court hearings due to all sorts of complications ) was so awful I vowed that if anything like that (heaven forbid) ever happened to me again I would not report it. It is true that the legal process re-traumatises victims.

It was a joint investigation between channel 4 and the Sunday Times, they must be holding some stuff back to print tomorrow otherwise where's the payoff for the ST. So I suspect there's more to come.

Also, it was a throw away comment that Daniel Sloss (well done, Daniel Sloss) made about what's app groups between female comics that share information about which promoters, comedians etc in the industry are to be avoided. It's an extensive list.

The abuse of women on the comedy circuit is an epidemic and nobody dares speak out for fear of being blacklisted by promoters for calling out their mates, and therefore not getting the gigs you need to progress. So instead, the info gets shared secretly among female comics to try and protect each other a bit. There was some hope today that this general state of the industry at all levels from open mic to pro, might have also been picked up and investigated. Sadly not.

Nobody has implied that though, have they?

The problem with innocent until proven guilty in these cases are that so few rapes are reported. Of those reported so few result in the perpetrator being charged. And then so few get to trial so the “proven guilty” part never happens.

I read on here about 6 months ago that he was well known in the entertainment industry as a sexual predator. Katherine Ryan spoke about it in an interview, without naming him, and after Googling it, Mumsnet pointed the finger at him.

It’s crazy that only 15/20 years ago we accepted the kind of behaviour that made me cringe watching that documentary tonight…

I think this is the majority view. They're only doing it for money, they were quite happy to go back to his room with him, they were up for it etc. In fact, I think a programme like this can almost create an even bigger backlash against women.

Well yes, they have. And if they didn't mean to then they really need to learn to articulate their thoughts better.

Of course not. Allegations of this nature should be treated seriously and the perpetrator punished according to the evidence. Although I would say ‘unequal relationships’ are probably pretty common in high profile relationships to a certain extent.

I've alway found him quite repugnant and sleazy if I'm honest (and not especially funny).

I can't comment on the program as I have yet to watch it, but Dispatches is a very reputable investigative show.

I don't doubt for a minute the lawyers have been alll over every claim and that they have some good receipts.

For people saying well he's know to have been promiscuous - that's not a defence.

In fact I find men in general who view women as disposable shags/notches in the bedpost those whose attitude to women in all aspects of life is dripping with misogyny, there only to fulfil their desires.

So, no I'm not surprised that someone known for celebrating his extensive sexual exploits (including on air to the grandfather of one woman he bedded) has allegedly behaved very, very poorly and even illegally.

Take note if any commentator you usually trust is supporting Brand, cos you've been trusting the wrong people.

It’s interesting that he appeared to have an A list Hollywood career one minute, and next minute it was gone. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was an open secret and nobody wanted to work with him, hence the descent to a YouTube channel.