Russell Brand: Comedian accused of rape and sexual assault of four women

Comedian Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assaults and emotionally abusing four women during the height of his fame.

The alleged assaults occurred between 2006 and 2013, while he was a presenter for BBC Radio 2 and Channel 4, and include an assault on a 16-year-old girl.

He vehemently denied the “very serious criminal allegations” ahead of a Sunday Times article and an expected expose to be aired by Channel 4’s Dispatches programme tonight.

The allegations include crew members on his Big Brother spin-off being made to feel they were working as a “pimp” by approaching young women on his behalf, and that he raped a woman at his Los Angeles home.

pleasemakesense,
@pleasemakesense@lemmy.world avatar

I remember being so surprised when I first saw him reffered to as a comedian and I still don’t get it

Emperor,
@Emperor@feddit.uk avatar

I raised an eyebrow at that when I saw it - he has made a career of being superficially jocular without being actually funny. However, he has done stand-up and written a book that is classified as humour, so I suppose that is enough to get the label comedian even if it debases it quite a bit.

Brekky,

I’m dubious how he can blame dressing up as Osama bin laden 1 day after the Sept 11th attacks on all the cocaine and heroin he was on at the time yet he has 100% recollection of all his sexual encounters, given he’s admitted to being wildly promiscuous at that time in his life.

Emperor,
@Emperor@feddit.uk avatar

Anyone who blames all the shitty things they did (Andrew Sachs too) on drink and drugs is just trying to dodge responsibility for their actions.

Brekky,

Agreed

oldbaldgrumpy,

If he’s guilty I hope he gets a Danny Masterson sentence.

dingleberry,

Having read so much praise for Forgetting Sarah Marshall, I’m sure fans would be devastated.

atrielienz,

Shocked. Pikachu. Face.

CommunistBarbie,

yikes-1yikes-2yikes-3

noodle,
@noodle@feddit.uk avatar

I really do wish allegations of this level of seriousness could go through the legal system before being presented to the court of public opinion. If he’s actually assaulting 16 year olds then he needs sending down!

lemonflavoured,
lemonflavoured avatar

From what I've read, none of the victims are willing to go to the police. Which is their decision, and theirs alone.

Doorbook,

That’s why the way the legal system work need to be updated.

Someone who have millions can afford best lawyer and spend time to afford fighting. While a normal person with maybe a minimum wage job cannot afford to go public, along with the cost, they also have to endure creepy people around them and their life will never be normal afterwards.

Son_of_dad,

Most times the courts and authorities won’t give a shit unless you make a public stink about it. We just learned this from the Danny Masterson trial, which would never have happened if they women had only spoken to authorities and never went public

DakRalter,
@DakRalter@thelemmy.club avatar

That’s what allowed Saville to get away with it for so long.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUoOhvlg0E

noodle,
@noodle@feddit.uk avatar

The problem with that is that the public should never get to be judge, jury, and executioner. Rumour and gossip should not be the basis for something this severe.

Brand has made more than enough money to live his life peacefully out of the public eye. The court of public opinion is only capable of ruining the wrong peoples’ lives, people who don’t have wealth and fame. The rich and powerful can uncancel themselves after a short period of exile, should they wish.

pinkdrunkenelephants,

Who do you think comprises the judge, jury and executioner?

Juries are random people chosen off the street.

Judges are elected most of the time.

Executioners in states that still have the death penalty are just workers.

Everyone in government is a member of the public because that’s what a government is.

loobkoob,
loobkoob avatar

Judges aren't elected in the UK. And we don't have the death penalty.

VioletTeacup,

I’m not sure why you thought the US system applied. We’re talking about a British comedian on /c/United Kingdom, on a UK instance.

pinkdrunkenelephants,

He’s so ubiquitous among the right wing here that I thought he was being charged in the U.S.

RobotToaster,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

Jurists are generally held to a higher standard than newspaper editors

RobotToaster,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

This feels very much like the vampire castle yet again trying to cancel him. Something it’s being doing since Mark Fisher was still with us…

For those who don’t know what I’m talking about en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exiting_the_Vampire_Castle

leaskovski,
leaskovski avatar

Nah, it seems like someone who was probably coked up to his eye balls doing stuff he shouldn't have been doing and now getting reported for it.

muse,
muse avatar

He groomed and raped 4 women. Please shut up

sunbeam60,

Says somebody. Let it go through the courts.

pinkdrunkenelephants,

You wouldn’t believe it even if it did.

sunbeam60,

What do you base that opinion on?

pinkdrunkenelephants,

Common sense

sunbeam60,

Well, given that your common sense has failed you here, maybe it’s worth asking yourself where else it could fail?

pinkdrunkenelephants, (edited )

Are you sure about that?

Because your rape apologia is pretty obvious to everyone else, or do you think we haven’t paid attention when apologists like you ran with the same excuses for years?

sunbeam60,

Are you confusing me for somebody else?

The only statement I’ve made is that he’s been accused of heinous wrong-doing and the court room is the right place to decide on his guilt.

How else would you do it?

pinkdrunkenelephants,

Nope, you’re the moron who is thinking you can apologize for some dipshit rapist and that the rest of us won’t just dismiss you and what you have to say on its face.

It’s been known since 2006 when Dannii Minogue spilled the beans on him in an interview.

Now stop defending rapists, you clown.

sunbeam60,

Please will you tell me how to decide on his guilt?

pinkdrunkenelephants,

By shutting up

RobotToaster,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

rape apologia

So the presumption of innocence, and that people shouldn’t be condemned without due process of law, a foundation of the British constitution since Magna Carta, is rape apologia?

pinkdrunkenelephants,

It is when it’s pretty blatantly just an excuse to defend a rapist.

If you’re gonna motte-and-bailey a rapist out of consequences you could at least be more subtle about it

RobotToaster,
@RobotToaster@mander.xyz avatar

Allegedly.

It’s amazing how quickly people forget they used exactly the same tactic against Assange.

bstix,

I doubt this one.

I don’t know the guy off screen, but it has always seemed that he was clever enough not to do something stupid and also that he had enough consensual sex to not have to pursue non consensual sex. The guy is also rich enough to pay for whatever kind of legal prostitution he’d want, so it seems rather stupid of him if the allegations are true.

However, he’s a known public pervert, so he’s an easy target, if the allegations are false.

Occam’s razor says that he’s innocent - at least until proven guilty.

pinkdrunkenelephants,

Man, the mods here really need to start doing something about the rampant rape apologia on the sub. Why even have mods if they won’t ban shit like this?

GreatAlbatross,
@GreatAlbatross@feddit.uk avatar

The community, through downvotes, make it clear that this is not an acceptable opinion to have.

If I remove the post, unless people dig through the mod log, all that is left is a blank space.

I’m happy to listen to reasoning for a different path.

But I’m of the opinion that I’d rather let the community see the bad takes, and have the opportunity to show their distaste through downvotes. (This does have limits, understandably)

pinkdrunkenelephants,

And then it says “No one cares about downvotes” or “downvotes don’t matter” when you argue they actually do matter or that they need to be changed in some way.

Stop trying to push off your responsibilities onto others and do your damn job. You see rape apologia, you delete rape apologia. That’s your job as a mod. If you can’t be assed, find someone else to be a mod.

But don’t come to me with a bunch of excuses to not do what you’re supposed to be doing. Grow the fuck up and do it.

correcthorsedickbatterystaple,

what?

  1. don't see how 'clever' enters into it one way or another. it's certainly not a trait that reduces the chances of being a predator.

  2. predators aren't people who can't find willing partners, they're people who want unwilling victims.

  3. you heard about another rich celebrity that was just sentenced to 30 years for rape?

  4. occam's razor says no such thing. the legal principle presumption of innocence says innocent until proven guilty.

JoBo,

he had enough consensual sex to not have to pursue non consensual sex.

Rape is not about lacking opportunity for consensual sex, it is about getting off on power. And getting away with it because people insist on making excuses like this for the powerful.

iheartneopets,

For anyone doubting this (the fact that rape is about power and NOT sexual desire), check out the books The Evil that Men Do and Dark Dreams by Roy Hazelwood. He was one of the first guys on the FBI’s behavioral analysis unit, who specifically studied sexual crimes like rape and assault.

Read at your own risk, it’s full of really dark stories. The information is really insightful though.

theinspectorst,
theinspectorst avatar

The guy is also rich enough to pay for whatever kind of legal prostitution he’d want, so it seems rather stupid of him if the allegations are true.

Being rich is not an alibi. Bill Cosby is rich. Harvey Weinstein is rich. Danny Masterson is rich. Donald Trump is rich.

Son_of_dad,

Did you just call Russell Brand clever? Lol

Muffi,

He’s like Jordan Peterson just on some different drugs. Great at convincing dumb people that he’s actually smart.

Decompose,

Anyone against the establishment will get these accusations and a big fuss will be made about it… remember Kavanaugh? There’s many like him. But then when Biden sniffs teenagers and all kinds of allegations of corruption are exposed in a laptop with a district attorney in Ukraine, they call it a hack, sweep it under the rug, and vote him president.

It’s partisanship nonsense. I feel bad for people who don’t see it.

iamnotme,

Never liked him, he always seemed liked a self serving knob head out to use the poor to make him money.

It’s no surprise to see that he’s also now part of the conspiracy movement.

Metal_Zealot,
@Metal_Zealot@lemmy.ml avatar

Something about his eyes looks unhinged, man

Emperor,
@Emperor@feddit.uk avatar

All the drugs can’t help with that.

fluke,

But Elon Musk and Andrew Tate have said it’s nonsense and that he’s a canny guy. I don’t know what to believe now!

Emperor,
@Emperor@feddit.uk avatar

Nonce-sense.

15liam20,

Thanks, Phil

dingleberry,

It’s funny how I didn’t know right away whether Musk made a post about it or not. Seems like the guy always has to air his opinion on completely unrelated topics.

Zormat,

Not that shocked

candyman337,

Can’t say I’m super surprised, he had some allegations in the me too era but didn’t address them at all,and instead has been doing a bunch of content about left wing politics, which I suppose was an attempt to repair his public image. Ever notice he’s not really in movies anymore? That’s not for no reason lol. Additionally, he married Katy Perry when she 25 and he was 35, and she divorced him alleging he was abusive and shitty. So yeah, not surprised he’s a child rapist.

NuPNuA,

He jumped the horseshoe from left wing content to right wing conspiracy a while back didn’t he?

candyman337,

Maybe. I haven’t kept up with him

SlikPikker,

His “leftist” politics, mainly liberal, always struck me as a virtue signal.

Tangentism,

Verbose bullshiter with ‘right on’ politics that wants to be down with the kids but invariably always makes it about himself

DoneItDuncan,

He’s very much sliding down the alt right pipeline now

C4d,

The alt right alimentary canal; always ends with a load of shit.

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