Russell Brand - everyone knew

[Mooshamoo]

I was watching the comedian Katherine Ryan say to Louis theroux that a British comedian is a sexual perpetrator. It is now believed that she was talking about Russell brand. She said on the video "when it eventually comes out about these type of people, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, this unmentionable British personality, it turns out that everyone knew. Everyone knew. ".

I was wondering did anyone on here on mumsnet know anything about Russell brand? A lot of us lived in London when her was living there. And many women on here would have been a similar age to Russell brand . I lived in London for a year and I saw Russell brand out on a night out once. That was the extent of it. I was wondering did anyone on here have any experience with him, or know about a friend/acquaintance that had any experiences with him.

I thought the reason he was mainly just doing podcasts etc, was cos he made his millions and had moved on from wanting TV gigs.
He also failed in America after a few movie bombs.. but still took the money and run. Terrible actor. He just was everywhere for several years.
It was like Rylan getting a bbc 2 radio gig just cos he was the 'in' thing.
RB was funny ish for a while but not suited to half the stuff that was thrown at him.

No excuse indeed

But maybe provides some explanation for his hyper-sexuality and lack of boundaries

And his 'campery' too

Used to work in comedy. All the comedians it ever came up with seemed pretty certain he was a multiple rapist. Never heard about the 16 y.o though. Come to think of it, I don't think I heard anyone say they liked him all the years I worked there.

He's been called a conspiracy theorist merely for questioning mainstream narratives. Anyone who does that is a 'conspiracy theorist' apparently.

Except there's no 'theory' about it - every topic he covers on his YT channel he backs up with official govt statistics, financial reports, studies in The Lancet, BMJ and other such organisations, depending on what he's talking about. I strongly believe - as do MANY others - that these allegations are an attempt to get him cancelled.

I also find it interesting how most people who dismiss him as a 'conspiracy theorist 'have never watched any of his content.

He hyper focuses and cherry picks and then waxes lyrical to make an argument.

It's all subjective to suit his narrative.

That's not the same as prope balanced reporting of facts.

Part of me wonders if he hyper focuses so much he genuinely believes the distorted truth be pushes.

In what way do you imagine Russell Brand is in ANY way a "threat to the establishment?" Seriously?

People with his theories are ten a penny. What "scary truths" do you think he is telling that would supposedly have Channel 4, the Times, and I dunno, Rishi Sunak? (what "establishment" are you talking about here?) literally quaking in their boots so much that they have to (checks notes) pay a bunch of women to make verifiable claims of at the very least serious sexual assault against him? From years before his supposed "enlightenment" at a time when he was spouting constant misogynist rapey shit and made a habit of crossing women's boundaries publicly?

The gullibility of his acolytes is off the scale. For goodness sake.

Just checked my emails and Caitlin Moran came up as a Twitter notification saying "Kath Ryan is a QUEEN"

Couldnt agree more.

He is a very strong voice in a local charitable organisation that provides rehab and job training for people recovering from addictions. We are waiting (hoping) for them to drop him like a brick. If they dont then the company they run to help fund the organisation will fall through the floor as it relies very strongly on local custom.

That's just it... in all his YT content I've watched, he doesn't appear to have a narrative; more just dissects a subject that's in the public interest in relation to politics, health, the media, whatever - using official reports, medical journals etc to explain what's going on. He doesn't give his opinion, just states the facts as they appear in front of him. So there's no 'conspiracy' or 'theory' - all of the information he presents, is freely available for anyone who cares to look. Initially, I was sceptical myself, until I watched a few of his vids and realised I couldn't really argue with someone citing a study from The Lancet!

@Jumpingthruhoops

Which is cherry picking. Yes, a study may have appeared in The Lancet, but then you have to look at the authors of that study and their political leanings and any controversy surrounding them. Scientific consensus is what the majority of scientists believe is the safest course of actions at a point in time with the most robust, peer reviewed, unbiased research. A quick fact check of Russell Brand’s claims show he is misinformed, politically biased, cherry picking etc etc.

The notion that he is being cancelled because of his claims is hypocritical and ridiculous. He champions free speech. He has his platform - easily accessible platform - to give his anti-science views. He makes allegations, criminal allegations against scientists. So in the interest of free speech, why can a woman NOT - likewise - speak out about abuse using a media platform? If you are trying to deny that right - then it’s not ‘stay free free speech’ is it? If you are trying to cancel her that right in order to protect him - because you think it’s ‘MSM on a mission’ - then that is bias, and that is anti-free speech, and that goes directly against the right that you are ‘allowing’ to RB when he spreads Covid misinformation.

And his father slept with two prostitutes on one bed while his son was on another bed with the prostitute the dad had bought for him to lose his virginity.

Brand describes his father buying the prostitutes like buying carry outs.

Yes I've just read that. It might be an overreach here, but Katy Perry wrote Roar quite soon after she and RB split. Some of the lyrics stuck in my mind for that reason:

"I used to bite my tongue and hold my breath
Scared to rock the boat and make a mess
So I sat quietly, agreed politely
I guess that I forgot I had a choice
I let you push me past the breaking point
I stood for nothing, so I fell for everything"

This was a guy whose entire schtick was being a sexual predator. He wasn’t even hiding in plain sight. He wasn’t hiding at all. I loathed him at the time as a misogynistic user and still do. What I didn’t understand then was his legions of fans or why now they are all clutching their pearls saying they’re “shocked, shocked.”

From Twitter:

“Conspiracy culture has given men like Russell Brand a powerful tool to dodge accountability.

If you’ve groomed your audience to deny reality and question everyone but you, what impact can allegations have?”

I don’t watch his content because I heard enough of his nonsense when he was mainstream.

This is so true.
Everyone is lying except me. I am the lone voice of truth and reason. You must never question me.

Donald Trump is exactly the same.

'enablers like you are complicit'

I find that really offensive. You are clearly the type of person that thinks schoolgirls should wear skirts to their ankles otherwise they are 'luring men in'. You're a disgrace.

At 16 I moved out of home, I was going to college, working 3 part time jobs, paying rent, living with 3 great friends and my boyfriend. Why shouldn't I be independent and living my life including have consensual, legal, protected sex with my similar age boyfriend?

You can't remove the freedoms of a whole age group purely to protect them from a minority of vile and abusive men.

It's the freedoms of the men you should be going after.

Because until it is proven that he did those things he is legally innocent. Trial by media can lead to miscarriage of justice.

Accused people like Brand need to be tried by a jury that is not under the influence of media reports etc for the correct outcome to prevail..

They were saying on Sky News tomorrow’s papers programme that the police themselves realise that for men / celebrities like RB to be caught, they need other women to come forward so programmes like Dispatches are necessary because are women are often so scared to report rape.

You can hide behind your pseudo legal speak like but if the justice system supports the story released by Dispatches/The Times, then your warnings about a miscarriage of justice just look like fear mongering.

I saw a video of him in his 20s standing in front of a young girl with his arms around her/over her shoulders, almost on her breasts, and she did not look comfortable at all! That video seems to have disappeared off the internet. I know this was sinister because I had it happen to be when I was about 12, that’s exactly how they do it.

Jesus Christ: the level of ignorance some have displayed on this thread is breathtaking.

1. No evidence: there IS evidence; the Woman accusing him of rape in LA has text messages in which he apologises to her the next day, and repeatedly asks forgiveness. The journalists have verified the number from which these were sent was his phone number. She also went to a rape crisis centre, and one of the journalists has got her to hand over medical records, so there’s those, too.
2. The poster who asked what the law is: in relation to the LA charges, that’ll be governed by the criminal law in the State of California, I think. I’m an England & Wales qualified lawyer, so it’s not my jurisdiction. I’ve researched it a bit but I want to get a reputable source and some of the ones I’ve found seem conflicting so I’ll leave it at “I’m unsure”.
3. Age of consent. It’s 16 in the UK. But even if you legally CAN consent because you’re 16, what “Alice” is claiming is that she DIDN’T consent to at least some of the sexual acts with Brand. He forced his penis down her throat when she didn’t want him to and she had to use force to get him to stop. That’s rape.

https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/rsa/rape-and-sexual-assault/what-is-rape-and-sexual-assault/

“The legal definition of rape is when a person intentionally penetrates another's vagina, anus or mouth with a penis, without the other person's consent.”

4 People saying “But we knew he was a shagger!” I’m amazed this is being used as some sort of defence, TBH. If sex has become some kind of compulsion for you, as Brand has admitted in his memoirs that it has, you’re MORE likely, not less, to just ignore whether or not someone’s consenting to get your sexual fix, particularly if you’re a narcissistic person in a powerful position (i.e. famous).

5 People feeling sorry for his wife: she knew about his character, his past and how he’s behaved, she’s an adult and still went ahead and married him and had kids with him - that’s her decision. Don’t feel sorry for her at all. No wise woman would have touched this arrogant user.

6 Emily Maitlis was on an episode of “the News Agents” talking about how she interviewed him in 2018/2019 and asked him about his behaviour. They played a clip of the segment. She claimed he “slapped her down” and was massively self-deprecating. She talks about his intelligence and how he charmed her and how he uses Dickens and Faust references to put her in her place. He says at one point “I’ve amended for that behaviour”.

It’s ATONED, Russell, not amended. If you’re gonna claim to be the next Dr Samuel Johnson, at least use the right fucking words. Maitlis is miles better educated and more intelligent than he is and here she was putting herself down. Disappointing.

In event, being a verbose prick isn’t a defence against rape - and that’s the same whether we’re in the U.K. or California.

Everyone is busy discrediting the victims. Just like in Sachsgate when Baillie was vilified. For years.

Well said.

It’s ATONED, Russell, not amended

‘amending’ for behaviour is one of the 12 steps, so I think that is why he used that phrase.

I think we can all agree that RB is not a child abuser.
Sleeping with a 16 year old when you are 30 is disgusting but not child abuse.
If it is classed as child abuse then " Alice "
Has a serious conversation to have with her mother who knew about the relationship and actually spoke to RB on the phone.