Dispatches . Russel brand .

[fabmaccawhackythumbsaloft]

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?

I think it's worthwhile just looking back at clips of Brand though. Clips where it's so glaringly obvious that behaviour is not ok. Behaviour that shouldn't have been tolerated even of its time. But was.

Brand as an act hasn't aged well. At all.

Because there are plenty of men who still think it's acceptable to be like that.

In that sense Brand left HIMSELF open to women challenging his behaviour. No one made him half these things. And he is the common factor throughout. Not the large number of women.

@MidnightMeltdown I do see the point- I have a huge concern though that this programme makes that even less likely (absolutely fair enough if I'm proved wrong) because any lawyer worth his salt will go down the 'prejudiced trial' route .

I'm not apologising for him- I think he is and has always been an utter prick but I'm very unsure if this route will actually bring any retribution to RB or closure to victims and actually may have given him a lot of publicity. There are plenty of whackos out there who will now search out his recent 'stuff' and possibly agree with it too.

The police are now beginning their enquiries and as others have pointed out, Weinstein was convicted in court after the media exposed his crimes - the reporting did not prevent a fair trial taking place.

The victims have been heard, believed and discovered they are not alone. That in itself is a healing and validating thing.

Brand has been dropped by his lit agency and charities are cutting ties. His support comes from Andrew Tate, Musk and their right wing misogynist followers and he might do well out of that but jt isn't a reason not to expose him. And now the police are taking action, hopefully he'll go to jail.

There are plenty of whackos out there who will now search out his recent 'stuff' and possibly agree with it too

which suggests that a fair trial is possible.

Astonishing the amount of Brand apologists on here. The man has always been a Grade 1 Sleazebag and has only got away with it because of his leftie views. If he had been a Tory politician he'd have been hung, drawn and quartered by now. His vulgarity, particularly on the BBC is utterly revolting and his contempt for women barely concealed. Like Savile, he has been hiding in plain sight and reading this thread, it seems like he's done a wonderful job.

You are absolutely right. It was there for us to see but there are none so blind as his supporters

'The man has always been a Grade 1 Sleazebag and has only got away with it because of his leftie views. If he had been a Tory politician he'd have been hung, drawn and quartered by now'

Ahem. Ever heard of a certain Boris Johnson? He could give lessons in sleazebaggery, did his career absolutely no harm

Yes, you are missing a real sleazebag who somehow has fooled you.

I have no idea how Boris comes in to the argument. But, for the record, he is sleazy and it certainly HAS done his career harm.

You don’t know that he can’t refute… only that didn’t. He didn’t engage.
We don’t know if he had evidence to the contrary

not being able to stop the publication/transmission of the report strongly suggests he doesn’t have any kind of evidence.

He issued denials before it was released what he was actually denying. He hasn’t even accused the women of lying, he’s gone straight to this is all being the work of shadowy forces trying to bring him down for ‘telling the truth’. That didn’t work out brilliantly for Alex jones, I doubt he’ll be able to pull it off either.

'I have no idea how Boris comes in to the argument'

It's right there in the quote. He's a Tory politician who was most certainly NOT hung drawn and quartered for his sexual incontinence

I can’t resist a punt at Boris but sadly no, his sleezebaggery has done his career no harm at all. Pinchers did, but Boris’s personal actions - nope. That fucker discussed having someone attacked and his career was still untouched.

I agree entirely. I don't actually like the guy but he was always open about being a sex addict and I feel it's just another "famous" person to be targeted years after the event. It's a very common occurrence these days in all walks of life. It's an annoying trait of today's society which muddies the waters for genuine issues

He was one of the shortest serving PMs ever. Until Liz said 'hold my beer'.

History won't regard Johnson's premiership as having achieved much.

He was brought down in a scandal too.

I don't actually like the guy but he was always open about being a sex addict

so raping is ok if you’re a sex addict? I’m not really computing the ‘but’ bit of your sentence.

Excellent post. The news about Brand is predictable but long overdue. What is depressing is the number of people on here expressing support. He may or may not be guilty of rape and I expect due process. But how many of us need convincing that the man is a sleazebag whose attitude to women is despicable. How anyone can buy this guys videos and go to his shows is absolutely totally beyond me. The revolting mass that is this particular man has been there in plain sight for us all to see.

Apparently so. Extraordinary

Disappointed it wasn’t a thoroughly researched documentary about the Conservative Party and their crimes for the last 13 years.

I don’t condone trial by media and agree with Lindy2. But there’s a problem when the ‘law is an Ass’ (as it is for rape - there are infeasibly few rape convictions and even when there is a rare conviction the sentences can be ridiculously light - especially in Scotland). So I’m not surprised that victims go for this approach. We need to reform how charges of rape are handled by the judiciary system.

Brand has had it coming for many years, it just didn’t deserve a documentary.

Possibly because nobody ever suggested the women in his life had been coerced. But his general reputation was certainly adversely affected.

Oh I do love a complete non-sequitur by somebody who brings politics into anything.

God yes!!! The whole country is basically ripe for investigative journalism right now. Pick a speciality!

Totally agree with you.

more or less what they said about Saville