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Dispatches . Russel brand .

1000 replies

fabmaccawhackythumbsaloft · 16/09/2023 16:25

I actually like Russel brand . And I don't think he's ever hidden what he used to be in his heyday. He's always been very open about his drug use, and promiscuity.

I read his first book . I watch his videos on fb , and while I don't always agree with him, he seems to have totally overhauled his lifestyle, attitudes, is into yoga, self care, seems to be a decent husband and father .

Is this newsworthy ? Young famous comedian in heyday slept with lots and lots of women , consensually he says ?

Hes never hidden it.

On drug misuse I alWays had time for his views that it should be dealt with as a medical issue not a criminal one

What's the news story ?
I always feel like there is much glee and salivating before the media try and knock someone down.
I don't think this is a huw edwards where people would be shocked at him trying to pick up young women behind his wife's back

It seems that brand has settled down , lives a fairly mundane lifestyle and is happy with his choices .

Or am I completely missing something?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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RedToothBrush · 17/09/2023 08:57

CarolDunne · 17/09/2023 01:31

Oh my god this is clearly his pr company

Well it'd have to be a newly recruited one, since the one he had binned him when these allegations surfaced...

LizzieSiddal · 17/09/2023 09:04

Lastchancechica · 17/09/2023 08:54

Unless we have been directly affected by brand, in which case please contact the police, we can’t change this outcome, but we can see the Russell’s amongst us and call out this vile predatory behaviour when we see it. This Christmas Simon from accounts can not force his tongue down his colleagues mouth for ‘fun’ - the dirty old ‘harmless’ uncle doesn’t get to touch you in a creepy way and make you feel uncomfortable.it’s not okay to behave in a rude, misogynistic and predatory way just because you have done for years.

There is PLENTY we can do to protect ourselves and fight back against this insidious culture, and more importantly perhaps for our daughters.

They can no longer harm us in broad daylight pretending it’s for jokes. This can and has to stop.

Thanks for this post Flowers

ladygindiva · 17/09/2023 09:07

BeignetPommes · 17/09/2023 04:07

Of course that's what they should have done. They will get fuck all justice twenty years later telling their stories to journos via actors

No woman will ever get true justice. 50 years ago, under the railway bridge outside Leeds city station, a 13 year old me was waiting for a bus. I was alone. An Asian man approached me. Stood next to me as if waiting for the bus, then took out a knife and brandished it in front of my face. "Let me feel your tits and I won't hurt you"

I was shocked and scared, obviously. It was an elderly mobility impaired woman who had clocked this from a distance and came tearing (hobbling, with difficulty) down the steps from the station shouting "Get away! Leave her alone!"

He legged it. I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't for her scaring him off. I was a very fit, intelligent and sensible 13 year old.

She was probably in her 70s maybe older.

What would I have done if she hadn't turned up?
She stayed with me until I got my bus, but I felt like I should stay with her until she got her bus!!

TW take note. That's what it's like, being a girl or a woman. It's not pink frilly frocks and blonde curls - it's not lipstick and glitter on your shoes and slinking around in long frocks. It's frankly when you're a young and fresh and attractive woman, you have loads of blokes wanting to have sex with you. Young women have to fight the buggers off !! That's something that you simply cannot expect as a TW.

Nobody is going to target you under a bridge, to show them you tits.
Because you are a man and you have none. You don't look like a woman.

Also, you have to know how it feels to have your boss and others make lewd suggestions to you. They won't do it to you because they know you are a man, so they really don't fancy you at all.

It's shit but it's true.

Great well written post. Sorry to hear of your experience. Won't surprise you that I've had similar, but without a fabulous older lady stepping in.

HoliHormonalTigerLillyTheSecond · 17/09/2023 09:18

Seems relevant here.

Dispatches . Russel brand .
Lalgarh · 17/09/2023 09:26

September 2006.Brand leaves the audience at a GQ awards ceremony in stunned silence after he says he was investigated for date rape, boasts about sleeping with Rod Stewart's daughter

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/rod-stewart-attacks-tv-star-brand-over-his-boasts-about-kimberly-7249921.html

The outspoken comedian made the claim after reducing the audience of the GQ Man of the Year awards to a stunned silence when he spoke of a police investigation into an alleged "date rape" at his flat in Edinburgh during the Festival.

...

Brand, 31, presenter of the Big Brother's Big Mouth show, added: "Here's to Rod Stewart who had a go at me earlier this year for too much womanising. But then again I did have a go on his daughter

to that Brand shill: is this MSM making up stories of him boasting about sexual assaults investigations using time travel to plant stories?

Rod Stewart attacks TV star Brand over his boasts about Kimberly

Russell Brand and Rod Stewart were involved in an extraordinary public row after the Channel 4 presenter claimed he had slept with the rock star's daughter.

https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/rod-stewart-attacks-tv-star-brand-over-his-boasts-about-kimberly-7249921.html

hollyblueivy · 17/09/2023 09:28

HoliHormonalTigerLillyTheSecond · 17/09/2023 09:18

Seems relevant here.

Is that a true depiction?

greenhydrangea · 17/09/2023 09:29

hollyblueivy · 17/09/2023 09:28

Is that a true depiction?

Yes.

RedToothBrush · 17/09/2023 09:33

TellMeWhatAreMyWordsWorth · 17/09/2023 07:48

This thread has some parallels with the Letby threads, where it's clear that a lot of people's understanding of what constitutes proof and evidence is somewhat lacking. These investigative journalists have pulled together testimony from multiple sources to create a full picture of this man's behaviour over years. The accounts of his victims, the corroboration of colleagues, the text messages he sent and the way he behaved openly along with the culture of silence and how execs handled it all exposes how predatory men behave and get away with it. There's plenty of proof!

What's valuable here is how it contributes to a culture shift. Whether Brand faces justice or not - most rapists and sexual abusers never will - this kind of expose changes policies, it forces a reckoning within the industry and it changes the culture. Watching old footage of Brand, you realise what seemed acceptable or funny just a decade ago is not ok now. We learn how to recognise predators and how to challenge behaviour. The backlash, the attempt to discredit women for 'running to the media' (a complete and deliberate misinterpretation of what this is), the insistence that women should go to the police in full knowledge that they'll never get justice that way and men can continue to abuse with impunity is to be expected. A lot of men are very angry and confused to find that the culture that has always enabled predators is under the spotlight.

Like RedToothBrush says, Brand will get nowhere in claiming defamation here - because there is so much proof. Women's lives are shattered by rape, sexual assault and harassment all the time. Their careers are ruined, relationships destroyed, mental health broken by what men do with total impunity over and over. MeToo, investigative journalism and work like this is how we fight back - because the police and the courts will do nothing and predatory behaviour will just carry on. Until we shine a light on it - just as has happened here.

Absolutely.

He's also made a lot of admissions about what he's done. Ones that are particularly notable.

A few from wiki

Brand says he had a "strange relationship" with his father, whom he saw sporadically and who took him to visit prostitutes during a trip to Thailand when Brand was a teenager

He had a father who taught him not to respect women and didn't teach healthy boundaries. By his own admission.

Brand was dismissed several days after coming to work dressed as Osama bin Laden the day after the 11 September 2001 attacks and bringing his drug dealer to the MTV studios.

Hmm yes. Knows a lot about respect and boundaries doesn't he?

He has been litigatious in the past when it comes to his behaviour. And won.
In May 2014, Brand received libel damages from The Sun after the paper had printed a story in November 2013 alleging that he had been unfaithful to Khan.

I had a look at the dates on this. None of the allegations seem to cross over the relationship. But I do wonder if something will come out on that front.

The fact that he hasn't said he will go legal (and it's extremely unlikely he'd win anyway) on this occasion is interesting given that history and his desire to protect his reputation in the past.

But this is the kicker for me.
In the October 2014 issue of Vanity Fair, Brand said of the allegations of misogyny made against him: "I have lived a life and had a frame of cultural references that make that charge quite legitimate... But as a person who's trying to live a decent, spiritual life, misogyny is not part of my current palette of behaviors... In a way, redemption is a great part of my narrative. I'm talking about disavowing previous lives, previous beliefs, previous behaviours."

That's an admission. Redemption doesn't cut it when you've left a trail of wreckage through other people's lives.

Then you look at the way he talks about women and the way he behaves around women saying it's consentual makes no sense if colleagues were putting in complaints to management. There's plenty of clips of him physically assaulting women but it's laughed off - one of the bits that's unpleasant is the look on the women's face and how uncomfortable they clearly are with it. They've been conditioned to tolerate it 'because it's just Brand being Brand and that's what he does'.

How is going up to a woman and full on planting one on the lips 'for a joke' without invitation properly consentual? All on camera - shown during the programme.

Indeed we had an example a couple of weeks ago of similar with the Spanish FA where the woman said she didn't consent, it was on TV but she's still not believed.

For me that's the most depressing issue. No amount of evidence would be enough for some. We know deep down that even if it went to court and he was found guilty there'd still be people outside protesting that he'd been stitched up unfairly. We have pretty much seen this with Letby - on these threads there were people saying the evidence wasn't enough cos they'd been following the case and thought the medis coverage showed a lack of evidence (never mind it being one of the longest murder trials in recent years due to the amount of evidence).

It comes down to people not wanting to believe it, no matter what they see with their own eyes. There will always be an excuse - it's not through the courts, they aren't perfect rape victims, he was just being funny etc etc. Because they don't want to believe. They don't want to admit what that might say about themselves. Because it interferes with their world view.

It's a theme that's increasing common. It is a whole industry in itself. And unfortunately that's why Brand will be just fine. He gets to play victim and make a fortune from it.

LodiDodi · 17/09/2023 09:33

Can you imagine if I, a woman, glassed a man in the face? I'd be in a cell faster than you can say double standards, and yet rapists like him walk around freely.

Cornettoninja · 17/09/2023 09:34

I’d not registered the Rod Stewart and Bob Geldof comments before. Those are some pretty hefty names in the entertainment industry and if their speaking out achieved precisely nothing it’s not a massive leap to working out why these women felt there was no where to turn.

Cornettoninja · 17/09/2023 09:37

Indeed we had an example a couple of weeks ago of similar with the Spanish FA where the woman said she didn't consent, it was on TV but she's still not believe

and it’s always focussed on what the woman should have done not what the man shouldn’t.

Lalgarh · 17/09/2023 09:39

Cornettoninja · 17/09/2023 09:37

Indeed we had an example a couple of weeks ago of similar with the Spanish FA where the woman said she didn't consent, it was on TV but she's still not believe

and it’s always focussed on what the woman should have done not what the man shouldn’t.

Exactly this

RedToothBrush · 17/09/2023 09:41

In her book The Wrong Knickers, which was published in 2014, Bryony Gordon claims Brand got her number from his PR team at the time before bombarding her with texts and calls.

Her account has now resurfaced after Brand was accused of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse.

The allegations against Brand, which include controlling, abusive and predatory behaviour, are claimed to have taken place between 2006 and 2013.

Brand has denied the 'very serious criminal allegations' made against him in an expose by Channel 4's Dispatches.

In her book, Gordon described how she met Brand while interviewing him during his stint as a presenter on Channel 4's Big Brother's Big Mouth.

She writes that he 'spent the whole of our interview asking if he could kiss me, and every time I said no, it only caused him to ask me more'.

In her book, Gordon says following numerous requests, she eventually agreed to go on a date with Brand a few weeks after she interviewed him.

They went for lunch and to the cinema, before Brand suggested they return to his for some drinks.

Gordon says he had a fridge 'stocked with alcohol' for her, despite the fact he is sober himself.

She adds that after a few glasses of wine she went to bed with Brand.

Prior to their brief relationship, Gordon says she wasn't aware of his 'reputation' or 'that there were, by his own admission, hundreds of other girls with a Russell Brand story' because he wasn't as well-known at the time.

Gordon met with Brand a couple more times before his texts and calls to her stopped.

From 2014.

Time travel indeed.

Looks a lot like sexual harassment and coercion.

Choux · 17/09/2023 09:41

Last night we heard the stories of a handful of women. I would be interested in hearing more about the number of stories not used as they were not backed up by a rape centre report, texts or other evidence. The similar accounts of females who don't know each other would point to this being RBs established pattern of behaviour.

I think that what we heard last night is the tip of the iceberg in terms of how he has behaved. I hope that other victims who saw it and haven't reported what happened to them now feel more able to report to either the police or Channel 4 what happened to them. As more women independently say the same thing the evidence becomes undeniable.

I hope his wife is ok. She must have known him and his reputation when she agreed to be in a committed relationship and have kids with him. I hope ageing and getting clean has calmed his sexual urges and behaviour but I worry she has had years of being treated like the women we heard from last night and has put up with it and minimized it.

TellMeWhatAreMyWordsWorth · 17/09/2023 09:43

Cornettoninja · 17/09/2023 09:37

Indeed we had an example a couple of weeks ago of similar with the Spanish FA where the woman said she didn't consent, it was on TV but she's still not believe

and it’s always focussed on what the woman should have done not what the man shouldn’t.

Yes, and isn't it particularly gross on this thread that some people are expressing their astonishment that a sixteen year old girl was going out with him, where were her parents etc. It's her fault for falling for him, their fault for 'allowing' it (never mind in the documentary that she detailed how Brand wrote a script for her to lie to her parents and made her rehearse it with him in her father's role) - those posters don't, however, question why a 31 year old man thought there was no problem with sending a car to a secondary school to pick up a girl for sex because hey, it's legal. What she did was legal. What her parents did was legal. But let's scrutinise their behaviour and make it their fault, not his. It's always the way!

Lastchancechica · 17/09/2023 09:46

This is what needs to change:

’Its just Russell’

Or any ‘Russell’ in society for that matter.

The insinuation that therefore it’s somehow okay for him to work outside of the normal parameters of decency and he can violate at will. This is what needs to change.

He had been ‘allowed’ to continue, he has had the green light from most of us and paid handsomely to be the known predator that he is. He did not nothing to hide it. THAT is what is so deeply shocking.

We have allowed this to happen in our society and unpalatable as it is paid him millions to continue to abuse women and girls, therefore enhancing his power, and lessening theirs.

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

greenhydrangea · 17/09/2023 09:50

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

In your dreams.

Kdubs1981 · 17/09/2023 09:52

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

Are you aware of the statics of successful prosecutions of those that ARE reported to the police? Maybe familiarise yourself with these before you heap judgement on survivors of rape.

Perhaps try some perspective-taking. Try putting yourself in their position and re-evaluate

bombastix · 17/09/2023 09:57

He is disgusting.

The reason that women do not go to the police is because of inaction and the pompous, tone deaf attitudes shown on this thread. That attitude is all about "it could never happen to me, I wouldn't get myself into this position". It is both misogynist and supports Brand. It says, no allegation without the support of officialdom. It's delusional crap. It's why our society doesn't help women and girls because never mind the police, you've got all these little handmaiden enforcers available.

Brand is disgusting and the attitudes in support of him are at best naive. He could sue the shit out of the Times, Channel 4 and these women. He could win because it's a much lower level of proof than proving a crime, which is what posters here apparently demand.

That man won't sue. He hasn't even got an injunction which he had the notice to do. Instead he's busy whipping up support on YouTube. It's pathetic and so are his supporters.

I have never liked this guy. He is boundary pushing creep who seems, for whatever reason, to have been given job after job because his immaturity and boundary pushing entertained people. If you liked him, ask yourself why.

RafaistheKingofClay · 17/09/2023 09:57

It’s surprising (or perhaps not) that there are so many people defending him when it was in plain sight on our screens at the time. It’s the least surprising news this year.

I’m the first to criticise the quality of journalism (or lack of it) in this country but this is good investigative journalism. I don’t see any way that the lawyers at the Times/C4 would let this stuff through if it couldn’t be backed up given Brand has the means of dragging them through the courts and a history of trying to get this stuff silenced. I’d be very surprised if there wasn’t a lot more that they had that they couldn’t print because they can’t evidence it sufficiently yet.

AngryGreasedSantaCatcus · 17/09/2023 09:58

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

It's not up to you what a victim does after an attack. Or how they deal with it.Or who and how they tell . Or what form justice takes for them.You can decide for yourself when you are the one being raped/sexually assaulted.

Cornettoninja · 17/09/2023 09:59

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

Rape is already illegal. Sexual abuse is already illegal.

Meaningful, societal change involves a shift in culture which is something the media is in a position to facilitate and in this case have done exceptionally well.

I don’t know about you but I’ve already had conversations with a couple of men who are clearly, possibly for the first time, really considering the situation and comparing their past reaction to RB’s ‘banter’ to what the current reports have induced them to feel about him. If the only small step achieved is that people (I would’ve said mostly men but it’s clear there’s still a lot of women fully signed up to the club) consider the perspective of the woman who has no contribution to the tales been told then that’s a win. That’s not achieved through court. Sadly.

TellMeWhatAreMyWordsWorth · 17/09/2023 10:00

beatrix1234 · 17/09/2023 09:49

I find it very very grim to hear on this thread of women who were sexually abused yet none went to the police, yet they want the world to Magically change and sexually abusive men to stop. Change starts with going through the legal channels, not the tabloids.

I find it very grim to hear so many stories in my life from women I love of how they went to the police after their sexual assaults and rape and were disbelieved, dismissed, laughed at, blamed and found that nothing changed. How they did everything 'right' and went through the legal channels to have their bodies violated again, to endure humiliation and find at the end of it that nothing changes. To realise our legal system does not punish the vast majority of rapists, and to realise that change will not come until these patterns of behaviour are out in the open and society condemns them. Because the courts won't.

As a result of this investigation, TV companies will have to review and reinforce their policies. As a result of this investigation, more women will be empowered to come forward. It becomes less acceptable for men to decide in a production meeting to simply not hire women to work with their predatory star - but to not hire him, lest they find themselves on a future Dispatches expose. Change will happen because of this documentary. Change that doesn't happen by going to the police.

Hobnobswantshernameback · 17/09/2023 10:03

Dear God
the rape apologist lot are out in force
and sorry did someone say the OP is a police officer???
was having trouble following her rambling but if that's the case
fucking hell

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