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.

During the dandy years he comes across like he was using drugs and severely mentally ill. The disinhibition, paranoia and delusions of grandeur would fit, not sure if he has a diagnosis.

I just hope he can't use his 'mental state' to get out of these allegations.

Imo he never across as intelligent. He was always just sleazy. I don't share his sense of humour though and tbh always switched over when he came on tv.

Okay. Well, here's my twopenny worth. I will agree. I always found Russell Brand an obnoxious prick.I don't find him the least bit funny or entertaining, so if he's is on a programme, I don't watch it. That's the choice I have in a democratic society. Freedom of choice ( or at least we used to)
But let's just calm down.
No: 1 ...if everybody is so sure of his guilt, why has nobody done anything about it.
No:2.... do you think its right to name somebody who.. at this point was never even at suspicion by the police for any wrong doing, while the complainent remains anonymous
No: 3... I amnot calling into question any of the ladies involved, but would you really, go to a newspaper or TV production company rather than the police.
AndNo:4.. whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty
Before the police even get an official complaint he has been dropped by everyone.
Do you knowhow many innocent peoples lives have been ruined by false accusations
All I am saying is that apparently hindsight is a beautiful thing as some of you already have him hung drawn and quartered
Micheal Le vell went through hell. Cliff Richard. Went through hell. And many many more. The one thing with Russell Brand was that he has been very transparent about what a knob he is. Doesn't automatically make him guilty

No:2.... do you think its right to name somebody who.. at this point was never even at suspicion by the police for any wrong doing,

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/sep/18/russell-brand-met-police-receive-report-of-alleged-sexual-assault-in-relation-to-allegations

What is wrong with you people!
She was over the age of consent! Consent being the word!
As a 16 year old she is classed as a child. He raped her! This is child abuse.

The fact that posters who are supposedly women seem to need telling that a female over 16 has been raped/abused in the eyes of the law if they are subjected to sex they do not consent to is horrifying.

Being 16 does not make a girl fair game for rapists. And women shouldn't be acting as though it's not that bad to rape a girl, provided she's over 16.

No: 3... I amnot calling into question any of the ladies involved, but would you really, go to a newspaper or TV production company rather than the police.

Everything you said before the "...but" in this sentence is bullshit.

Of course you are calling them into question. You're just too much of a coward to actually admit it.

I take it you have personal experience of reporting rape to the police, hence being able to make such statements with the authority of experience? No. I thought not.

@Wakintoblueskies It seems pretty obvious to me his behaviour was not that of somebody well, but who knows where the case will go. I worked for 20 years in mental health but I could be wrong!

TarantinoIsAMisogynist · Today 19:48

The fact that posters who are supposedly womenseem to need telling that a female over 16 has been raped/abused in the eyes of the law if they are subjected to sex they do not consent to is horrifying.

Being 16 does not make a girl fair game for rapists. And women shouldn't be acting as though it's not that bad to rape a girl, provided she's over 16.

I completely agree with you.

Why do you think they are women?

Wow another thread full of people sticking up for Rapist Brand.. and I see some have now resorted to slagging off school girls. Lovely!!

As for everyone knew.. Bob Geldof seemed to know. The saying goes when someone shows you who they are.. believe them. Russell Brand is vile, I'd put money on there being more victims and if I'm wrong he can sue.. I'm guessing that won't happen though.

There are ~800 posts on this thread, why are you writing like you’ve contributed anything new or interesting or meaningful to the discussion? You’re just excusing rape and grooming.

I think in reply to the previous post there are a number of complainants with really quite credible stories backed with evidence.

There are a number of reasons for not going to the police

a) Not wanting to go through invasive questioning and possibly public shaming in a court setting.

b) Knowledge that rape conviction is very low

c) Damage to self esteem by mental health and sexual proclivity being brought up as subjects for questioning by the defence

d) Questioning police attitudes when it has been widely reported misogyny is widespread in the police

e) In reality newspapers and television companies have more resources for investigation compared to the police

If Russell Brand truly refuted the allegations out forward his first move would have been to get some very good lawyers to sue Channel 4 and the Times. Instead he produced an amateur you tube video where part of his defence was wild conspiracy theories. A truly innocent person would surely have directed his lawyers to make a statement informing the public of forthcoming legal action.

Investigative reporting is widely accepted as a mean of throwing light on ill behaviour of powerful behaviour and has revealed major cover ups historically from Watergate to Saville. It is in the public interest for allegations of this type to be broadcast to prevent further offending. We have a free press and free speech in this country for a reason; it is not there to protect the rich and powerful.

HTH

Your point 3,
I would not go to the police with an allegation of rape or sexual assault, unfortunately. I would not encourage my daughters, granddaughters or friends to go to the police with a complaint of tape or sexual assault.
If I really wanted to try to protect other women from a high profile predator, I might consider going to the press.
This is because my trust in the police and the legal system has been dreadfully undermined by my professional experience in the field and knowing how many police (not all) regard most allegations of rape as false, and by what we all now know about corruption in the police, disrespectful messages in their WhatsApp groups, and how women are torn apart as witnesses.
I do however feel that Google acting as an arbiter of morals is beyond ironic.

Your twopenny worth would have value if it appeared to be based on any knowledge of the subject, or even what Brand himself has claimed over the years.

He didn’t hide his behaviour, it was incorporated into his act.

I think if we looked at most celebrities/bands at that time, most of the men would have acted in a similar way.

1 in 4 women have been sexually assaulted according to the statistics, and I think that’s probably on the low side! So there’s plenty of men out there doing these things and I’d arguably say the majority!

I don’t think demonising one person is the answer. (Although if he has raped and sexually assaulted I hope that the courts and police get involved in that.”)

We need to learn from the past and teach our daughters their worth and power, and make sure they have a safe space to report these things when they happen!

I'm making an assumption, based on the fact that this is MN, where the vast majority of posters are women.

The threads about RB have attracted huge numbers of victim blamers, minimisers, deniers etc. Even if some are men, they won't all be.

And people thought that was funny. Bringing great distress to a woman. What were people thinking?

Oh, well that's alright then. If only you'd said. Just like Saville, also a hell of a laugh. Depravity is the only word for it.

I believe that when studies have been done, something like 25-50% of men* self-reported as having committed sexual assault, and 7-15% self reported as having committed rape (although the questions they answer are worded in a less legal way, asking e.g. whether they had sex with a woman who didn't want to rather than "have you raped a woman").

*The men studied were college students in the US

I think a good parallel is Prince Andrew where the was no criminal conviction but a civil settlement but certainly innocence wasn't presumed and Prince Andrew quite rightly has withdrawn a great deal from public view. There hasn't been any legal action in the Schofield and Edwards cases but like this case there are on going in depth internal investigations and certainly many would feel the reputations damage is due.

Please remember if these were scurrilous accusations RB's agent wouldn't have dropped him like a stone, his you tube channel wouldn't have had its advertising revenue removed, the police would not be investigating, BBC and Channel 4 wouldn't be starting internal investigations, senior politicians wouldn't be commentating and his only supporters wouldn't be far right misogynists and conspiracy theorists.

I think all have to accept that Brands public career is absolutely over.

Its known as doing a Huw Edwards

I don’t think anybody was thinking that much about Russell Brand except maybe Russell Brand. And very often these things do come back in retrospect. And especially if compliant people are continuously being groomed in plain sight. We are not likely to have been collectively stalking him on nights out. 🤷‍♀️

I hope we never hear his name again and that he is shunned. And social services should certainly check on his two daughters. I hope that in future he experiences just some of the misery he has visited on so many people. And I think he will because his whole being is about being noticed. Obscurity will be hell

@sweetdreams33 like I have said earlier in this thread. These women stood no chance going to the police, if you watch dispatches you may appreciate that a lot more. RB has a LOT of money and with that money he has access to the best legal team that will threaten litigation at the sniff of any accusation. He was very powerful. When we have a legal system in this country that only a tiny proportion of rape cases actually make it to court and then an even smaller percentage get prosecuted, and that's not with a celebrity. What chance do you think these women had? None whatsoever. I really wish people would stop for a moment and put themselves in their shoes and just see how vulnerable they were.

Watch dispatches!