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 watched the programme and am utterly appalled. The 16 year old was groomed and
the others raped.
Equally appalling was his ‘comedy’ performance. It was sickening and the audience of mainly women laughed. Is this what we as a society have descended to?
I do not believe he has reformed either.

I share your thoughts and it explains why there are so many people on here defending him. He made himself 'cool' to many who somehow thought they were equally cool by championing him. He is not complicated - just an utterly revolting sleazy bloke who thinks he has a god-given right to sex with anyone he chooses. The fact that women are defending his behaviour makes me realise how far society's standards have slipped.

@TellMeWhatAreMyWordsWorth is the law the same in the USA though with regards to anonymity till charged?? I'm not apologising by the way for him- I can't stand him .

I think its a bit like the Huw Edwards story - remember that; it completely swamped the media for 10 mins. its a distraction from the real crises going on in our country - cost of living, nhs, immigration etc. never forget, the Sunday times and many other newspapers are owned by Rupert Murdoch who has a very strong agenda

Maybe they feel more comfortable with safety in numbers that lends more credibility to their situation after waiting so long. He never should have been involved with a 16 year old as a 30 year old man- end of.

I don't think it is like Huw Edwards, he wasn't accused of doing anything criminal. People might not approve of a married man paying a young man for photos and exchanging photos with him if he did but that is nothing like raping and assaulting women.

Anyone saying why not go to the police has obviously never reported a rape or sexual assault to the police before.

I've never liked him, thought him pretty vile and full of himself, just could not understand the attraction at all. He has that dead-eyed look, and I'm not keen on long haired men anyway, so I never really thought much about it, but was never drawn to watch any of his shows etc. I remember Dannii Minogue describing him as a predator and that he'd basically given her the creeps.

I feel sorry for his wife and kids to have to deal with this. Promiscuity is one thing, we all have a past, but the 'glaze-over' that was mentioned several times, is something else altogether. I've seen it twice, once in an equally dead eyed alcoholic ex, and another in a dog, and it's like a switch that once it's flicked there's no going back. I don't believe that ever goes away, but perhaps a person can learn to avoid their triggers. However, part of managing it has to be admitting that the potential is there in the first place. I'm interested to see how this develops.

I agree with this. People with very strong or extreme personalities do well on film and TV, because 'ordinary' doesn't come across. But this also means they may not be 'nice' or 'good'.

I can completely why people didn't report. I was raped by my then husband in 2007 and when I did try to report it the policemen (two of them) - one laughed and said who would ever believe you and the other sat there stony faced and didn't write anything down.

They refused to take it forward and advised me to let it go.

Surely it’s a police matter.
journalists acting as judge snd jury and everyone believing it.
Its wrong!

Spot on

Rape and assault are very different to being promiscuous.

They’re not though are they? They’ve presented a report (that will have been checked over by lawyers employed by dispatches and the Sunday times for libellous or slanderous claims), not directed any sort of punishment or consequence.

If anything they’ve presented a case for prosecution. A case that likely wouldn’t have got past the CPS if each individual woman had made individual complaints.

I don't particularly like Russell Brand and I dislike some of the things he's been promoting. If he has committed the crimes he's being accused of I expect he will be sentenced in a court. What I do find suspicious is the number of cases, such as this, coming to light. The news seems to be spending so much time and space dwelling on these stories that other, more important, news is relegated down the page. What, really, is more important, what Russell Brand got up to years ago, or the fact scientists are astounded and deeply concerned at the speed with which the ice cap is melting? You can roll your eyes and say, oh no not that again, but we are being distracted from the dire state the world is in, politically, socially and envoronmentally by this constant drip of scandal.

What, really, is more important, what Russell Brand got up to years ago, or the fact scientists are astounded and deeply concerned at the speed with which the ice cap is melting?

I am deeply concerned by the climate emergency, but that doesn't mean I don't think a sexual predator should be held to account @Pliudev

Large scale systematic abuse, instiutional abuse are absolutely the things that should be brought to light. It isn't just about a crime that happened a long time ago (though I still think anyone deserves justice for something that happened, never mind if it was 10, 20 or 50 years ago), but how systems allow this to happen and how we can protect girls and women in the future.

This can happen alongside highlighting all the other crises we are facing, it isn't one or the other.

It’s a fair point @Pliudev.
Realistically the initial reaction will die down as it does with every scandal.

The environment and climate change, I agree, should be much more of a focus than it is. It’s a BIG issue, perhaps too big to face on the scale it needs to be addressed.

As long as we have convictions in 1% of rape cases loads of women won't go to the police - because they won't get justice. What's the point? At least if you can tell your story to journalists unanimously you can still have a tiny bit of a voice - if not justice.

My friend was recently sexually assaulted. She believed she would get justice and went to the police. I of course encouraged her but also told her not to get her hopes up. Luckily the police men were nice to her. I was so relieved. A few weeks ago she got a letter from the prosecutor that they were closing the case. End of. No prosecution. It totally floored her and re-opened all the trauma and hurt again.

I read that many students who are raped turn to their universities rather than the police.

Rape and sexually assault is basically a crime you can get away with - it's like shop lifting. Absolutely sickening.

I’m got two issues with this.

1. as so many have said if these allegations are true then it’s one for the police to deal with and hear the evidence. The salivating media are sickening and it’s sensationalist fodder which detracts from the the real news - two massive disasters in north Africa, climate change, useless corrupt government blah blah
2. never particularly liked Brand - find him a bit stagey and not really funny, however he is generating a massive audience for his so called conspiracy theories. The reason being that many are all too plausible. Not only does this rob the mainstream media of some of its potency but it makes more and more ordinary people question what is really going on in a way we have never done before social media platforms existed. Destabilising threat perhaps? It may well suit a lot of powerful people to undermine his often credible arguments. He might be guilty as charged but a fall from grace would suit a lot of people.

I can’t stand him. Always gave me the creeps and I think the whole yoga thing is a smokescreen he invented try to change his image. Slimy is the description I’d use 🤢

I read that many students who are raped turn to their universities rather than the police.

And they are shit all use either.

I can tell you from experience that reporting a crime like rape and especially a historic case with no evidence is absolutely horrendous. The police totally misled me, they took it out of my hands, I had almost a year and a half of it hanging over me, I did have enough for it to go to cps who then decided it wasn't strong enough for a conviction so wouldn't take it forward.

Why are people still so ignorant about these things!!!!!!! When you report a crime like rape it will never even get to court unless the cops believes there's a good enough chance of conviction in the meantime you have to relive everything video interviews statements constant anxiety often threat from your attacker I was living on diazepam with a panic phone ffs!! And people are still saying 'why didn't they just report it to the police' open your eyes!!

That should be CPS not cops by the way

I don't want to put anyone off reporting a crime but I will say that my experience was so traumatic AFTER the attacks I reported that it would have to be extreme for me to report a crime like that again. I have been raped since, violently. I kept pictures on my phone of bruises yet I still lied to the police and said I didn't have the pictures anymore a year later when I had to speak to them about something else. This attacker knew about the ptsd I'd been through before it was someone I'm trusted and I'm sure they took advantage of that fact. These celebrities operate in a similar way they know these young women are easily intimidated

and I lied because I knew it would break me to go through that again, I would be sentencing myself to a minimum of months of trauma and anxiety and extreme mental distress all to probably end up being told there wasn't enough evidence and when you've been brave enough to have to relive something in excruciating detail given them everything you've got and then they say that it basically feels like you're being told it didn't happen, the attacker is vindicated and it's fucking awful