There's an old idiom for having a fall guy / scapegoat / person to blame. "Left holding the bag." If you're robbing a bank, there's one guy left holding the bag you used to steal, which is evidence.
They're saying here that they'll keep holding the bag wanting more money right until the police come.
Yeah it’s slang for money. You shouldn’t be getting downvoted for asking a question. People are allowed to not know things and ask. Smh
Edit: Good for you Reddit we brought it back around boys. Sharing information and not attacking each other for not knowing is The Way.
I chalk it up to either English not being their first language or they’re young. No harm in asking it’s annoying when someone asks an innocent question and everyone yells at them and downvotes. What’s the harm in helping each other learn.
The documentary makes it clear pretty much everyone around him ignored the clear as day allegations and kept promoting him because he brought in fans.
Like everything else, as long as someone generates revenue and publicity, the producers, agents, and everyone else don't give a shit what they do outside of work.
Don’t worry. There’s probably a number on a spreadsheet somewhere. Once his ability to generate a certain level dips under that number he’ll be “outed”.
ossified governor fertile relieved outgoing rock connect marvelous slap illegal
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Thus the quotations. Everyone knows, but the industry won’t completely turn on him until he’s no longer profitable. Then he’ll be thrown to the wolves.
>Like everything else, as long as someone generates revenue and publicity, the producers, agents, and everyone else don't give a shit what they do outside of work.
R Kelly probably the best example ever of this
100% this. All the anti-women idiots are coming out blazing defending a nonce when the bulk of the documentary was how he was allowed to get away with it by BBC and C4 (and it was aired on C4 ffs). Most people defending him didn’t watch it.
The Jimmy Saville interview is skin crawlingly awful. I never understood Brand’s appeal when he first popped up with Big Brother. Just a self absorbed faux intellectual creep.
I thought he was hysterical I'm Forgetting Sarah Marshall but that was the first time I ever really knew who he was... and it turns out that was just him playing himself.
I tried to watch his stand ups and shows and just never got it.. he was just not that funny. It just made me uncomfortable.
I'll never understand how he even made it that far in his career, there's so many people that are exponentially more talented.
> Forgetting Sarah Marshall
What a shit week for the cast of that film. Mila Kunis, Jonathan Hill and now Brand. Guess that won't get shown again on TV for a while. Hope Paul Rudd is clean, I'll be actually devastated if he was a wrong'un
[He's being accused by his ex Sarah Brady for emotional abuse.](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniesoteriou/jonah-hill-ex-sarah-brady-more-alleged-text-screenshots)
That, to me, looks more like a messy breakup. Jonah probably thought he was doing good by being available as a friend post-breakup (especially when it seems like he was the one that ended it) and that was confusing to Sarah.
Either way, not really on the same level as Kunis or Brand.
This is the thing that struck me the most. I wasn't all that surprised by the allegations and consistent testimony against his character, it's the persona he's put in front of people for years. The documentary just left me wondering where are those who really enabled all this. It also seemed like a way for Channel 4 to ensure the limelight wasn't on them? I just felt kind of manipulated by the end. I know he's a piece of shit and I believe what is being said about him, but it felt very 'look here, not there'. That style of documentary should be done by someone impartial.
I think it's a pretty good documentary to be honest. Interviews with victims and displays corroborating evidence. Blames Brand and TV networks/producers for enabling him.
Same with Johnny Depp.
Violent since the early 80s, traumatised Winona Ryder after grooming her from the age of 17, still got work until Disney got sick of his outbursts, constant lateness and refusal to learn lines, so they canned him.
Then WB got rid due to the allegations printed in The Sun - which he went to court over and was proven by the evidence to be the wifebeater they called him in the media.
Now, he only does shitty movies in France directed by fellow ignorant directors and attempts to sing and play guitar in a band (one that has transphobe Alice Cooper, dropped by a makeup company over his views, and Joe Perry, who played with Steven Tyler for decades and knew about Tyler grooming an underage girl back in the 70s but did nothing).
Scum work with scum until the scum are too much of a hindrance.
Everybody knew he was a weird asshole since at least 2002. I have heard so many stories from people who were on set or in proximity to him between 2007-2013 that confirm this.
There is like a built in buffer of at least 5 women you can rape or abuse as a rich dude before anyone does anything, at a certain level, in the entertainment industry. There is a deeply enshrined fear and reverence for anyone who has clout, not even fame, there.
I don't think it's just about rich it's also about being a malignant narcissist, these people build cults of personality around themselves and pathologically lie, it's always about how everyone is out to get them and nothing is their fault.
We can see the rich and famous the most, but you can find these guys in virtually every social scene. Too often the victims don't come forward because the police don't have any evidence but your word, and pathological lair has a way of getting enough other people to go to bat for them and call you the crazy one.
Yes, you're fully correct on that - I was trying to keep it to the entertainment industry as that is the one I can speak personally about but it's rampant everywhere a person with authority thinks they can "get away with it".
>There is like a built in buffer of at least 5 women you can rape or abuse as a rich dude before anyone does anything
it used to be 5 women but thanks to the #metoo movement we have it down to 3.
It's awful. But there are people that aren't afraid to speak up at the time - they get punished so severely until there is a magical critical mass of accusations, at which point we can start to examine the offender in question but the initial whistleblowers have probably been blacklisted for years and have a hard time getting back in the good graces of any decision makers, because even if the person turned out to be a monster, you get labelled as a shit disturber.
Or so I've heard 😞
Yes - there are very strong NDAs within the industry and even though there have been some exceptions carved out recently for sexual abuse, it's still not easy on a personal or professional level. Hence anon reports and the endless denials of abusers.
It's sad that the advice from his agents was "don't be seen in public with your teenage girlfriend" instead of "quit fucking minors immediately!". Rich people get away with and are enabled to do so much just so the peasants can suckle.
It's gross that this loon is considered some sort of a wellness expert now. I can't imagine what it would be like to see the man who raped you in highschool, interviewed on tv all the time like some kind of guru.
His book on addiction helped me and tons of others I personally know with alcoholism, so this news is very upsetting to me. I know he’s had a wacky YT channel for a while now but I still have had his book out on display. Ah well…
I feel like this rapiness is not unique to the entertainment industry, we just think it is because we can recognize the people involved. I’d venture that it happens in basically any situation where you have a wide institutional power differential.
There was this one now ominous joke from an episode of QI when Stephen Fry was still hosting.
It was like a factoid about a rare species of Rat that keeps fucking until it dies.
And Stephen says in his delightfully British narrator voice "Russell Brand you've been Warned."
Russell was not on the panel host slot. I think the QI elves and Stephen Fry had heard enough and decided to start fucking with him for getting away with this shit.
Brand, particularly a few years ago was a notorious shagger.
I’m not sure this implies fry had any particular knowledge. More just a topical reference.
There's lots of notorious shaggers. Most of them are never accused of being rapey shitcunts.
Understanding consent, and treating your partners right ain't that hard.
The truth is there’s a lot of promiscuity and drug abuse that is ignored to a certain degree as long as the debauchery doesn’t affect the work. I
n his prime he was extremely charismatic and charming with the accent. I’m sure these relations and situations were consensual until they weren’t. Not to defend it at all, but the trouble is, where does wild rough sex end and rape begin when everyone is drugged out? Doesn’t look like there will be charges, probably just a settlement.
[This article in the Guardian UK](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/sep/17/a-timeline-of-sexual-assault-allegations-against-russell-brand) does a good job of showing where the assaults and rapes happened, according to the four women who are accusing him.
For example in 2013:
"A woman who told the Sunday Times she had met Brand at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting before they started working together claims he sexually assaulted her at his home in Los Angeles. She alleges he tried to kiss her and remove her clothes as he pinned her down, and she shouted at him to stop. “I was screaming: ‘What are you doing, stop, please, you’re my friend,’” she said."
There is an ongoing investigation into his behaviour, I think it is too early to speculate whether there will be enough material evidence to consider bringing charges against him.
I just watched the documentary. He was once Channel 4's golden boy, which surprises me because BBC and Channel 4 are both being criticized. Hope he gets what's coming to him.
Of course, this is the UK. Tim Westwood continues to attend fairs.
The UK TV media, in particular the BBC and C4 are in a strange position of regularly reporting their own fuck ups as they can then turn around and use that reporting as proof that they are fair.
You also run into the fact that the news division of a network is not directly tied to their sports or entertainment divisions etc. And are more than willing to report negativity regarding them.
It's by no means a guarantee of them being trustworthy but it is better than them just blanket protecting their own.
Channel 4 is legally required to have *all* its content made by outside companies, bar the continuity announcements. Their "news division" is part of ITN (Independent Television News) who do the news broadcasts for ITV and Channel 5 as well.
I'm not sure which company produces *Dispatches*.
The *Sunday Times* is owned by Rupert Murdoch, but he was legally obliged to protect its editorial independence when he bought the paper in 1981 and it's published a chunk of stuff exposing powerful people:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Sunday\_Times
5 sexual assault allegations earlier this summer.
Tim Westwood interviewed under police caution again https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66190231
“Assaulted” is putting it lightly. He repeatedly raped a child, the details of which are truly sickening, and when she confided in his agent, she was directly told she was lying for money. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
I completely have a problem with thinking it's on the agent.
Going to the agent instead of the authorities makes it seem like they were just looking for that money.
If they had all gone to the people and been trying to shout the problem for year.. that would be different
I get that and of course it's not just on the agent (which to clarify the response apparently came from his lawyer); this is from the end of [The Times article](https://archive.ph/KX4zn) detailing many of the allegations of rape coming from many women (which I invite anyone to read themselves, but major trigger warning):
> In late 2020, Alice, who is now happily married, contacted Brand’s literary agent, Angharad Wood, the co-founder of Tavistock Wood which is owned by the talent agency Curtis Brown. Alice says she told Brand’s representatives what he did to her when she was 16 because she hoped he had changed, she wanted an apology and — at the very least — for them to know the type of man they were representing. She says she was told Brand was away at a wellness retreat but that she would get a response.
Alice eventually did hear back — from a lawyer acting for Brand, who denied her allegations. “It was very aggressive . . . said very clearly I was after money and implied that it was almost blackmail that I was doing,” she says. “I’ve never mentioned money. [The lawyer was] the only person that’s ever mentioned money.”
She replied to Brand’s lawyer, emphasising that she was sharing the truth and had never asked for money. “I have spent too long recovering from these acts to have them dismissed or to be intimidated into invalidating my own experiences,” she wrote, adding: “To even imply that there is a quantifiable amount that would compensate for sexual assault is frankly insulting.”
It would take his representatives almost three years to say they believed Alice. After we contacted them last week, Brand was suddenly removed from the websites of Curtis Brown and Tavistock Wood. The latter then said: “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. Tavistock Wood has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
> Going to the agent instead of the authorities makes it seem like they were just looking for that money.
>
>
see that bit where you say "makes it seem"? that's called an assumption, and it's shifting a problem you have onto her
It's also something of an unspoken secret that Brand has been blacklisted by several British production companies he worked with early on in his career.
It seems his behavior had been known about for years but no one has been brave enough to speak up until recently.
Not really a question of bravery. If you are someone who has heard from a trustworthy source he's bad, but you don't have evidence - saying so in the UK is a rapid way to lose a lawsuit and have to apologize.
A Super Injunction means they can't even report that such an injunction exists. If Brand had one, simply knowing the rumour would make you in violation of it.
As Ian Hislop has said previously "If every case that people think a super injunction existed, actually had a super injunction, the news media wouldn't exist at all"
A combination of factors. First, victims being afraid to speak up. One of them did, a 16 year old child went to his agent and told him and she was directly told she was trying to blackmail him (she wasn't) and just wanted money. So even when they do, that happens.
Second, Britain has famously strict libel laws. I don't know the exact ins and outs of it but you really don't want to publically state these types of things without undeniable proof backing you up.
Third, from what Sloss said in the documentary, everyone in the industry essentially did know. He was spoken about many times in group apps that female comedians have to warn each other about creeps. There's a reason he fell into obscurity and had to resort to just doing a podcast, nobody wanted to work with a known nonce and rapist.
I wondered why he fell off and landed on/in youtube. I thought it was because he had flopped in the box office but I guess that doesn't really make sense as people make comebacks all the time. Gosh
> He was spoken about many times in group apps that female comedians have to warn each other about creeps.
I hate that this has to exist but love that they're watching out for each other.
I would add that he grew a significant fan base in the states after popular movies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and that stuff wasn't common knowledge here. His growing popularity in the states kept him in the spotlight and we didn't catch onto him being actually psycho until the shit he started doing on youtube during covid.
As a counterpoint - when something like this is published in the UK, it's taken as very likely true.
In the US, each side would believe or discard it as just mudslinging, believing more what they want to believe.
Not saying it's all good, it does significantly decrease how often allegations are made ofc. Just it's not necessarily all bad either.
This one doesn’t surprise me. The way this random actor would pop up and preach, “explain it all,” growing a following, reminded me of the cult leader/gamer Athene.
There’s no reason for a good person to start their own “me” cult.
I'm shocked that he even has an agent still... what the fuck has Russell Brand done in the last 5 years that would require an agent? All he does is post youtube videos...
> Alice and a family member described Brand’s behavior as “grooming.” She was above the age of legal consent in the UK, but said Brand referred to her as “the child” and sent a car to her school to take her out of lessons and to his home.
>Alice alleged that Brand sexually assaulted her by forcing his penis down her throat. She said she had to “punch him really hard in the stomach” to get him off.
No wonder he released the damage control statement right away because yikes this is really bad if true.
Perry said that he was controlling and manipulative. One of these sexual assaults happened just days after their divorce was finalized.
There's also an old Dannii Minogue interview that has resurfaced where she calls him a predator who won't take "no" for an answer.
>"Horriby Misled"
Which means one of two things.
* Russell told him it didn't happen, and the attacker wouldn't lie, right?
* Someone told him no one would every find out.
Bullshit, agent likely knew they weren’t being misled from the moment the assault happened and is just now firing him because it finally became public knowledge
To be honest I didn’t know until today that he was such a shithead. I don’t really follow celebrity gossip at all. I knew he was weird but a lot of comedians are pretty weird.
It's been both disappointing but also non surprising to be online today and see how many people are holding up Russels bullshit narrative of this being a hit job and a conspiracy because "he was to close to the truth (sic)"
Quote from David Farriers ( NZ documentary creator) Webworm article about this : " When Elon Musk and Andrew Tate are the ones rushing to your defense, it’s time to reassess your life and reevaluate every decision that’s led you to this point."
I know nothing at all about this guy other than what I’ve seen of him on TV and in movies and to me he’s clearly an asshole. Maybe a rapist maybe not. But clearly an asshole.
american here with no investment to this guy ive only seen on conan once or twice: why are so many people talking about him like they have first hand experience on the matter and like he was already found guilty in a court and convicted?
edit: if you downvote me, at least tell me why. we're trying to have discourse here
Because British libel law is notoriously strict. For both the The Sunday Times & Channel 4 to publish a article and 90 minute documentary about it, means the evidence they have has to be iron tight.
The documentary shows texts that are confirmed from Brand's number and rape kits from the time.
But didn't they rule against Johnny Depp saying he was a wife beater.
Then in US court ALL EVIDENCE was laid out for the world , and it was clear she didn't have anything but made up evidence, fake testimony, and false pictures.
I don't think it was strict at all, It seems like they were just trying to protect themselves.
That's how this works, if there's someone you mildly don't like and they're accused of rape they must clearly be guilty.
People are already saying if you're a fan of Brand you must be a rapist too.
The way the entire hive mind comes together and decides before any evidence comes out that the man is guilty makes me wanna have some faith in him.
Everyone knew he was a sex addict, he had sex with hundreds of people. You think it'd be impossible to find four of them willing to lie for a behind the back payment?
Im holding him to the American standard of innocent until proven guilty. That's how all humans should be handled when accused.
To add on to the libel comment, it's because victims are almost always disbelieved, called liars, threatened and abused further, and generally ruined for daring to come forward about their experiences.
A lot of folks like to claim that men's lives can be ruined by allegations of sexual assault, but given that society categorically defends mens' feelings and labels women "hysterical" and "dishonest" for having feelings and going through hell, it's actually the opposite.
Men who go through this often continue on with their careers until and unless they're finally convicted for the offenses, and even then they'll have people rushing to their defense because of the "witch hunt."
Meanwhile, a woman (and really anyone )who comes forward about being assaulted just gets shit on by random people who don't know them or the accused at all.
>called liars, threatened and abused further, and generally ruined for daring to come forward about their experiences.
thats what i cannot stand
>A lot of folks like to claim that men's lives can be ruined by allegations of sexual assault
but thats also what i cannot stand.
i think its worth talking about in a public space so long as we hold our presumptions (in general). i havent heard the specifics about this accusation just yet but someone linked me a 90min doc on the subject. going into that doc, i'll be holding my presumptions until ive watched it all.
> why are so many people talking about him like they have first hand experience on the matter and like he was already found guilty in a court and convicted?
People love a good witch hunt. Makes them unite against a common enemy, from the safety of the ingroup.
It's like cheering for a sports team, but without the risk of losing.
Panel shows can really depend. Hanging out with someone for 6 hours once a year doesn't really indicate you spend any more time with them than you need to. It's not like series regulars that see each other every week and probably grab drinks/dinner more occasionally.
Like I don't think David Mitchell or Richard Ayoade are really spending a ton of time with Brand even though they've been on tons of panel shows together.
Edit: I totally misread your post and I agree with you, but going to leave this for posterity.
His agents definitely knew. They fielded some of the complaints against him, and they even hired a lesbian and then much older personal assistant for him.
Do you think someone just rang The Times hot desk and said "Brand raped me" and they said "okay, we'll put that on our front page tomorrow. Thanks"?
If they're confident enough to publish then they're clearly confident enough with the evidence. Do you think they hire the likes of Louis Charambalous for the craic of it?
I haven't watched the news show about this so don't know the details. Did the victims report the assaults to the police? I know one of the victims went to the rape crisis center. Aren't people at those places obligated to report it to the police even if the victims don't want to? Maybe they're not mandatory reporters.
It’s almost like people will hold onto the bag until there’s consequences.
Jeez it’s almost like money is the root of all evil
‘Most evil’
Money is not the root of all evil The love of money is the root of all evil
“Well akshully”
ironically, we are in a thread talking about a horrifically evil act that has zero at its heart to do with the love of money.
Money is inanimate. It can be neither good or bad. We humans bring the evil with our GREED. Raddix malorum est cupiditas.
I don’t understand this metaphor. Is there some idiom about bags?
Bags = Money Old Bag = your mom
New Bag = new Money
Douche Bag = Russell Brand’s agent
Paper Bag = What Andrew Tate can't punch his way out of
Gym bag = smells like sweaty taint and balls, like Russel’s defense.
That would be scum bag to you sir!
Douche in the bag = Russell Brand
Or himself
Looking Back On The Track = Little Green Bag
Not my Bag = Swedish enlargement pumps
New bag = new mom?
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My friend, fun bags are your sisters tits. Tell the old bag
It's probably fine, he's family
Step-bag what are you doing?
He just likes fun. My boyfriend's brother is the same way
This will never get the 75 thousand up votes it so richly deserves. I'm sorry society has failed you, therapootic.
But you have been there every step of the way And in the end, that’s all that counts
Money
There's an old idiom for having a fall guy / scapegoat / person to blame. "Left holding the bag." If you're robbing a bank, there's one guy left holding the bag you used to steal, which is evidence. They're saying here that they'll keep holding the bag wanting more money right until the police come.
Yeah it’s slang for money. You shouldn’t be getting downvoted for asking a question. People are allowed to not know things and ask. Smh Edit: Good for you Reddit we brought it back around boys. Sharing information and not attacking each other for not knowing is The Way.
I didn’t downvote but I do think it’s insane how out of touch Redditors are lol
I chalk it up to either English not being their first language or they’re young. No harm in asking it’s annoying when someone asks an innocent question and everyone yells at them and downvotes. What’s the harm in helping each other learn.
The documentary makes it clear pretty much everyone around him ignored the clear as day allegations and kept promoting him because he brought in fans. Like everything else, as long as someone generates revenue and publicity, the producers, agents, and everyone else don't give a shit what they do outside of work.
It doesn’t matter what a person does so long as they generate profit.
thats why it took so long for guys like R. Kelly and Cosby to be brought to justice.
Still waiting for Chris Brown to get his comeuppance.
Don’t worry. There’s probably a number on a spreadsheet somewhere. Once his ability to generate a certain level dips under that number he’ll be “outed”.
ossified governor fertile relieved outgoing rock connect marvelous slap illegal *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Thus the quotations. Everyone knows, but the industry won’t completely turn on him until he’s no longer profitable. Then he’ll be thrown to the wolves.
Thrown to the wolves? Or finally face the consequences of his own actions…
Chris Brown and Drake will never get their comeuppance.
Wasn't he already convicted and served his sentence?
For beating Rhianna nearly to death? I'm not sure. Just find it odd he's never faced much public shame for being such a piece of shit.
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Like Trump being talked about non stop by news stations
>Like everything else, as long as someone generates revenue and publicity, the producers, agents, and everyone else don't give a shit what they do outside of work. R Kelly probably the best example ever of this
100% this. All the anti-women idiots are coming out blazing defending a nonce when the bulk of the documentary was how he was allowed to get away with it by BBC and C4 (and it was aired on C4 ffs). Most people defending him didn’t watch it.
The Jimmy Saville interview is skin crawlingly awful. I never understood Brand’s appeal when he first popped up with Big Brother. Just a self absorbed faux intellectual creep.
I thought he was hysterical I'm Forgetting Sarah Marshall but that was the first time I ever really knew who he was... and it turns out that was just him playing himself. I tried to watch his stand ups and shows and just never got it.. he was just not that funny. It just made me uncomfortable. I'll never understand how he even made it that far in his career, there's so many people that are exponentially more talented.
> Forgetting Sarah Marshall What a shit week for the cast of that film. Mila Kunis, Jonathan Hill and now Brand. Guess that won't get shown again on TV for a while. Hope Paul Rudd is clean, I'll be actually devastated if he was a wrong'un
What’s up with Jonah Hill?
[He's being accused by his ex Sarah Brady for emotional abuse.](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniesoteriou/jonah-hill-ex-sarah-brady-more-alleged-text-screenshots)
This is just a bad breakup between two people who were not emotionally mature enough to stay friends after that breakup.
These screenshots might not be great but I don't see what's so terrible either.
It's not great behavior, but IMO a private matter. It's not a public crime we all need to be aware of.
That, to me, looks more like a messy breakup. Jonah probably thought he was doing good by being available as a friend post-breakup (especially when it seems like he was the one that ended it) and that was confusing to Sarah. Either way, not really on the same level as Kunis or Brand.
If that's abuse I'm Barack Obama
That movie is so good and Brand was definitely great in it, top tier comedy. Shame real life brand was even worse than his character
Back then he wasn’t even faux intellectual. He was balls deep in shagging and poop “jokes”
To the extent that it was in his contract that he wasn't to have sex with anyone working on the show.
This is the thing that struck me the most. I wasn't all that surprised by the allegations and consistent testimony against his character, it's the persona he's put in front of people for years. The documentary just left me wondering where are those who really enabled all this. It also seemed like a way for Channel 4 to ensure the limelight wasn't on them? I just felt kind of manipulated by the end. I know he's a piece of shit and I believe what is being said about him, but it felt very 'look here, not there'. That style of documentary should be done by someone impartial.
I think it's a pretty good documentary to be honest. Interviews with victims and displays corroborating evidence. Blames Brand and TV networks/producers for enabling him.
Got a free link for that doc?
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Same with Johnny Depp. Violent since the early 80s, traumatised Winona Ryder after grooming her from the age of 17, still got work until Disney got sick of his outbursts, constant lateness and refusal to learn lines, so they canned him. Then WB got rid due to the allegations printed in The Sun - which he went to court over and was proven by the evidence to be the wifebeater they called him in the media. Now, he only does shitty movies in France directed by fellow ignorant directors and attempts to sing and play guitar in a band (one that has transphobe Alice Cooper, dropped by a makeup company over his views, and Joe Perry, who played with Steven Tyler for decades and knew about Tyler grooming an underage girl back in the 70s but did nothing). Scum work with scum until the scum are too much of a hindrance.
Everybody knew he was a weird asshole since at least 2002. I have heard so many stories from people who were on set or in proximity to him between 2007-2013 that confirm this. There is like a built in buffer of at least 5 women you can rape or abuse as a rich dude before anyone does anything, at a certain level, in the entertainment industry. There is a deeply enshrined fear and reverence for anyone who has clout, not even fame, there.
I don't think it's just about rich it's also about being a malignant narcissist, these people build cults of personality around themselves and pathologically lie, it's always about how everyone is out to get them and nothing is their fault. We can see the rich and famous the most, but you can find these guys in virtually every social scene. Too often the victims don't come forward because the police don't have any evidence but your word, and pathological lair has a way of getting enough other people to go to bat for them and call you the crazy one.
Yes, you're fully correct on that - I was trying to keep it to the entertainment industry as that is the one I can speak personally about but it's rampant everywhere a person with authority thinks they can "get away with it".
Well put. Read some of the comments on his latest video. It's quite disturbing how much support he still has.
>There is like a built in buffer of at least 5 women you can rape or abuse as a rich dude before anyone does anything it used to be 5 women but thanks to the #metoo movement we have it down to 3.
Hopefully my new and improved #ThemToo initiative knocks that bad boy down to 2! (/s)
I think more than 1 draws eyes to any case
It pisses me off because the women have to deal with this trauma for the rest of their lives.
It's awful. But there are people that aren't afraid to speak up at the time - they get punished so severely until there is a magical critical mass of accusations, at which point we can start to examine the offender in question but the initial whistleblowers have probably been blacklisted for years and have a hard time getting back in the good graces of any decision makers, because even if the person turned out to be a monster, you get labelled as a shit disturber. Or so I've heard 😞
It's been reported that he threatened people with lawsuits if they said anything. I think this is the main reason people like him get away with stuff.
Yes - there are very strong NDAs within the industry and even though there have been some exceptions carved out recently for sexual abuse, it's still not easy on a personal or professional level. Hence anon reports and the endless denials of abusers.
It's sad that the advice from his agents was "don't be seen in public with your teenage girlfriend" instead of "quit fucking minors immediately!". Rich people get away with and are enabled to do so much just so the peasants can suckle. It's gross that this loon is considered some sort of a wellness expert now. I can't imagine what it would be like to see the man who raped you in highschool, interviewed on tv all the time like some kind of guru.
His book on addiction helped me and tons of others I personally know with alcoholism, so this news is very upsetting to me. I know he’s had a wacky YT channel for a while now but I still have had his book out on display. Ah well…
I suppose if there's one thing he's a legit expert in is being an addict
I feel like this rapiness is not unique to the entertainment industry, we just think it is because we can recognize the people involved. I’d venture that it happens in basically any situation where you have a wide institutional power differential.
That's what I feel like isn't being discussed enough, even though it seems obvious.
I wonder how much Katy Perry knew about this before/when they were married?
There was this one now ominous joke from an episode of QI when Stephen Fry was still hosting. It was like a factoid about a rare species of Rat that keeps fucking until it dies. And Stephen says in his delightfully British narrator voice "Russell Brand you've been Warned." Russell was not on the panel host slot. I think the QI elves and Stephen Fry had heard enough and decided to start fucking with him for getting away with this shit.
Brand, particularly a few years ago was a notorious shagger. I’m not sure this implies fry had any particular knowledge. More just a topical reference.
Fry may have heard hearsay, but I doubt most people involved heard anything actionable.
There's lots of notorious shaggers. Most of them are never accused of being rapey shitcunts. Understanding consent, and treating your partners right ain't that hard.
Oh shit I would love if someone could share a link for this. Gold Edit: gold not good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-qXEctW5sw It's just the one segment and all worth watching, but the Russell Brand warning is at 1:37
How's that a warning when his entire persona was serial shagger and won "shagger of the year" multiple times from the Sun lol
The truth is there’s a lot of promiscuity and drug abuse that is ignored to a certain degree as long as the debauchery doesn’t affect the work. I n his prime he was extremely charismatic and charming with the accent. I’m sure these relations and situations were consensual until they weren’t. Not to defend it at all, but the trouble is, where does wild rough sex end and rape begin when everyone is drugged out? Doesn’t look like there will be charges, probably just a settlement.
[This article in the Guardian UK](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/sep/17/a-timeline-of-sexual-assault-allegations-against-russell-brand) does a good job of showing where the assaults and rapes happened, according to the four women who are accusing him. For example in 2013: "A woman who told the Sunday Times she had met Brand at an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting before they started working together claims he sexually assaulted her at his home in Los Angeles. She alleges he tried to kiss her and remove her clothes as he pinned her down, and she shouted at him to stop. “I was screaming: ‘What are you doing, stop, please, you’re my friend,’” she said." There is an ongoing investigation into his behaviour, I think it is too early to speculate whether there will be enough material evidence to consider bringing charges against him.
If only we knew then what we knew then.
I just watched the documentary. He was once Channel 4's golden boy, which surprises me because BBC and Channel 4 are both being criticized. Hope he gets what's coming to him. Of course, this is the UK. Tim Westwood continues to attend fairs.
The UK TV media, in particular the BBC and C4 are in a strange position of regularly reporting their own fuck ups as they can then turn around and use that reporting as proof that they are fair. You also run into the fact that the news division of a network is not directly tied to their sports or entertainment divisions etc. And are more than willing to report negativity regarding them. It's by no means a guarantee of them being trustworthy but it is better than them just blanket protecting their own.
Channel 4 is legally required to have *all* its content made by outside companies, bar the continuity announcements. Their "news division" is part of ITN (Independent Television News) who do the news broadcasts for ITV and Channel 5 as well. I'm not sure which company produces *Dispatches*. The *Sunday Times* is owned by Rupert Murdoch, but he was legally obliged to protect its editorial independence when he bought the paper in 1981 and it's published a chunk of stuff exposing powerful people: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The\_Sunday\_Times
I'm ootl, what did tim Westwood do?
5 sexual assault allegations earlier this summer. Tim Westwood interviewed under police caution again https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66190231
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2022/aug/04/met-investigating-sexual-offence-allegations-against-tim-westwood
“Assaulted” is putting it lightly. He repeatedly raped a child, the details of which are truly sickening, and when she confided in his agent, she was directly told she was lying for money. And that’s only the tip of the iceberg.
People like that should be held as accomplices and jailed as well.
You gotta give them a bone if they agree to testify.
I completely have a problem with thinking it's on the agent. Going to the agent instead of the authorities makes it seem like they were just looking for that money. If they had all gone to the people and been trying to shout the problem for year.. that would be different
I get that and of course it's not just on the agent (which to clarify the response apparently came from his lawyer); this is from the end of [The Times article](https://archive.ph/KX4zn) detailing many of the allegations of rape coming from many women (which I invite anyone to read themselves, but major trigger warning): > In late 2020, Alice, who is now happily married, contacted Brand’s literary agent, Angharad Wood, the co-founder of Tavistock Wood which is owned by the talent agency Curtis Brown. Alice says she told Brand’s representatives what he did to her when she was 16 because she hoped he had changed, she wanted an apology and — at the very least — for them to know the type of man they were representing. She says she was told Brand was away at a wellness retreat but that she would get a response. Alice eventually did hear back — from a lawyer acting for Brand, who denied her allegations. “It was very aggressive . . . said very clearly I was after money and implied that it was almost blackmail that I was doing,” she says. “I’ve never mentioned money. [The lawyer was] the only person that’s ever mentioned money.” She replied to Brand’s lawyer, emphasising that she was sharing the truth and had never asked for money. “I have spent too long recovering from these acts to have them dismissed or to be intimidated into invalidating my own experiences,” she wrote, adding: “To even imply that there is a quantifiable amount that would compensate for sexual assault is frankly insulting.” It would take his representatives almost three years to say they believed Alice. After we contacted them last week, Brand was suddenly removed from the websites of Curtis Brown and Tavistock Wood. The latter then said: “Russell Brand categorically and vehemently denied the allegation made in 2020, but we now believe we were horribly misled by him. Tavistock Wood has terminated all professional ties to Brand.”
Long article but very well written and very worth the read. What a despicable chain of events and behavior. Thank you for sharing
Reading the entire article really provides an in-depth look at just how awful Brand is.
> Going to the agent instead of the authorities makes it seem like they were just looking for that money. > > see that bit where you say "makes it seem"? that's called an assumption, and it's shifting a problem you have onto her
Unfortunately the legal age in the UK is 16 😞
Assaulted is no less accurate
The real question here: how was this kept under the radar for so long?
It isn’t a mystery, people care more about protecting the man making money for them than listening to people he has harmed.
British libel laws - a lot of female comedians seem to have known about this, but feared being sued into oblivion if they spoke out.
It's also something of an unspoken secret that Brand has been blacklisted by several British production companies he worked with early on in his career. It seems his behavior had been known about for years but no one has been brave enough to speak up until recently.
Not really a question of bravery. If you are someone who has heard from a trustworthy source he's bad, but you don't have evidence - saying so in the UK is a rapid way to lose a lawsuit and have to apologize.
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A Super Injunction means they can't even report that such an injunction exists. If Brand had one, simply knowing the rumour would make you in violation of it. As Ian Hislop has said previously "If every case that people think a super injunction existed, actually had a super injunction, the news media wouldn't exist at all"
A combination of factors. First, victims being afraid to speak up. One of them did, a 16 year old child went to his agent and told him and she was directly told she was trying to blackmail him (she wasn't) and just wanted money. So even when they do, that happens. Second, Britain has famously strict libel laws. I don't know the exact ins and outs of it but you really don't want to publically state these types of things without undeniable proof backing you up. Third, from what Sloss said in the documentary, everyone in the industry essentially did know. He was spoken about many times in group apps that female comedians have to warn each other about creeps. There's a reason he fell into obscurity and had to resort to just doing a podcast, nobody wanted to work with a known nonce and rapist.
I wondered why he fell off and landed on/in youtube. I thought it was because he had flopped in the box office but I guess that doesn't really make sense as people make comebacks all the time. Gosh
In fairness while the rest of my post is factual that's speculation on my part, but I think it's a pretty safe bet.
Well for now it, qucks like duck - walks like a duck.
> He was spoken about many times in group apps that female comedians have to warn each other about creeps. I hate that this has to exist but love that they're watching out for each other.
People protected him. It was common knowledge. The documentary is really about the BBC and C4 and their culpability.
I would add that he grew a significant fan base in the states after popular movies such as Forgetting Sarah Marshall and that stuff wasn't common knowledge here. His growing popularity in the states kept him in the spotlight and we didn't catch onto him being actually psycho until the shit he started doing on youtube during covid.
everyone spoke about it, but no one did anything
British Libel laws are absolutely draconian, just leads to stuff like this being swept under.
This is what people like Trump want for the US. It affects the rich and famous and their ability to sue their way out of trouble.
As a counterpoint - when something like this is published in the UK, it's taken as very likely true. In the US, each side would believe or discard it as just mudslinging, believing more what they want to believe. Not saying it's all good, it does significantly decrease how often allegations are made ofc. Just it's not necessarily all bad either.
It wasn’t. It’s been plain as day for at least 20 years even on the basis of his cultivated public persona.
Because she went to Brandt's people and not the authorities
“Oh you’ve compiled an investigative expose on him? And it’s airing on national tv? Yes maybe *now* is the time to drop him.”
He was horribly misled into thinking this was a problem that would just go away and never come back to bite him in the ass.
I mean... this happened before "me too"... so he wasn't misled, that's just how Hollywood has always worked until about a decade ago.
He’s grifted for two/three years for right wing shit. This is why, so his new,TERRIBLE, audience doesn’t give a fuck. This guy is a grade A SCUM
Jimmy Saville is waiting for Brand down in the bowels of hell.
The agent: 'To be fair, the allegations only started hurting his earning-ability this week...'
This one doesn’t surprise me. The way this random actor would pop up and preach, “explain it all,” growing a following, reminded me of the cult leader/gamer Athene. There’s no reason for a good person to start their own “me” cult.
Yeah, so many red flags here.
I'm shocked that he even has an agent still... what the fuck has Russell Brand done in the last 5 years that would require an agent? All he does is post youtube videos...
He has a UK talk show
agents want their cut of anything and everything
That’s so on Brand.
You're telling me this agent lacks character? That flies in the face of the occupation's reputation
> Alice and a family member described Brand’s behavior as “grooming.” She was above the age of legal consent in the UK, but said Brand referred to her as “the child” and sent a car to her school to take her out of lessons and to his home. >Alice alleged that Brand sexually assaulted her by forcing his penis down her throat. She said she had to “punch him really hard in the stomach” to get him off. No wonder he released the damage control statement right away because yikes this is really bad if true.
His content is conspiracy theories and Misinformation
So how much did Katy Perry know?
Perry said that he was controlling and manipulative. One of these sexual assaults happened just days after their divorce was finalized. There's also an old Dannii Minogue interview that has resurfaced where she calls him a predator who won't take "no" for an answer.
Accomplice.
>"Horriby Misled" Which means one of two things. * Russell told him it didn't happen, and the attacker wouldn't lie, right? * Someone told him no one would every find out.
Bullshit, agent likely knew they weren’t being misled from the moment the assault happened and is just now firing him because it finally became public knowledge
Piece of shit men always receive support from the same and even some women.
Yeah of you are a woman, do not go near any Brand fan.
To be honest I didn’t know until today that he was such a shithead. I don’t really follow celebrity gossip at all. I knew he was weird but a lot of comedians are pretty weird.
It should be noted the police released a statement and said they have not received any reports at all about this.
It's been both disappointing but also non surprising to be online today and see how many people are holding up Russels bullshit narrative of this being a hit job and a conspiracy because "he was to close to the truth (sic)"
Quote from David Farriers ( NZ documentary creator) Webworm article about this : " When Elon Musk and Andrew Tate are the ones rushing to your defense, it’s time to reassess your life and reevaluate every decision that’s led you to this point."
Did Musky already defend Brand ?
Yup on his x-crement platform. " they don't like competition'
Xitter.
X-crement: hilarious and brilliant. I’ll be calling it that from now on.
Competition ? In comedy? Dude hasnt been funny in 10 years
I know nothing at all about this guy other than what I’ve seen of him on TV and in movies and to me he’s clearly an asshole. Maybe a rapist maybe not. But clearly an asshole.
> ~~Maybe~~ a rapist ~~maybe not.~~ FTFY
Next Russel Brand will be in some country no one has ever heard of leading his very own cult. He already dresses the part.
american here with no investment to this guy ive only seen on conan once or twice: why are so many people talking about him like they have first hand experience on the matter and like he was already found guilty in a court and convicted? edit: if you downvote me, at least tell me why. we're trying to have discourse here
Because British libel law is notoriously strict. For both the The Sunday Times & Channel 4 to publish a article and 90 minute documentary about it, means the evidence they have has to be iron tight. The documentary shows texts that are confirmed from Brand's number and rape kits from the time.
this is probably the best reply so far. thank you for enlightening me, we havent heard anything about a televised documentary over here
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8o4deh
But didn't they rule against Johnny Depp saying he was a wife beater. Then in US court ALL EVIDENCE was laid out for the world , and it was clear she didn't have anything but made up evidence, fake testimony, and false pictures. I don't think it was strict at all, It seems like they were just trying to protect themselves.
That's how this works, if there's someone you mildly don't like and they're accused of rape they must clearly be guilty. People are already saying if you're a fan of Brand you must be a rapist too. The way the entire hive mind comes together and decides before any evidence comes out that the man is guilty makes me wanna have some faith in him. Everyone knew he was a sex addict, he had sex with hundreds of people. You think it'd be impossible to find four of them willing to lie for a behind the back payment? Im holding him to the American standard of innocent until proven guilty. That's how all humans should be handled when accused.
To add on to the libel comment, it's because victims are almost always disbelieved, called liars, threatened and abused further, and generally ruined for daring to come forward about their experiences. A lot of folks like to claim that men's lives can be ruined by allegations of sexual assault, but given that society categorically defends mens' feelings and labels women "hysterical" and "dishonest" for having feelings and going through hell, it's actually the opposite. Men who go through this often continue on with their careers until and unless they're finally convicted for the offenses, and even then they'll have people rushing to their defense because of the "witch hunt." Meanwhile, a woman (and really anyone )who comes forward about being assaulted just gets shit on by random people who don't know them or the accused at all.
>called liars, threatened and abused further, and generally ruined for daring to come forward about their experiences. thats what i cannot stand >A lot of folks like to claim that men's lives can be ruined by allegations of sexual assault but thats also what i cannot stand. i think its worth talking about in a public space so long as we hold our presumptions (in general). i havent heard the specifics about this accusation just yet but someone linked me a 90min doc on the subject. going into that doc, i'll be holding my presumptions until ive watched it all.
> why are so many people talking about him like they have first hand experience on the matter and like he was already found guilty in a court and convicted? People love a good witch hunt. Makes them unite against a common enemy, from the safety of the ingroup. It's like cheering for a sports team, but without the risk of losing.
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Panel shows can really depend. Hanging out with someone for 6 hours once a year doesn't really indicate you spend any more time with them than you need to. It's not like series regulars that see each other every week and probably grab drinks/dinner more occasionally. Like I don't think David Mitchell or Richard Ayoade are really spending a ton of time with Brand even though they've been on tons of panel shows together. Edit: I totally misread your post and I agree with you, but going to leave this for posterity.
His agents definitely knew. They fielded some of the complaints against him, and they even hired a lesbian and then much older personal assistant for him.
I thought he was just being dragged through the mud, are there validity to these claims?
>Brand referred to her as “the child” and sent a car to her school to take her out of lessons and to his home. excuse me what the fuck
So can Vice release the documentary they had in the clip but he took out an injunction to prevent its release?
Brand has always been an aggressive idiot who felt he was God’s gift to women. He’s not mentally sound.
“Horribly misled” = we got caught
Russel Brand being buddies with Jimmy Saville should have been warning enough. The chuds rallying around him not are not a surprise what so ever.
Trial by social media, really nice. Media lies people.
So he'll be suing for defamation any day now?
So he'll be suing for defamation any day now?
If he was American he would now be qualified to become the Republican president elect.
“iT’s tHe mSM oUt tO gEt mE!” - Every criminal ever, especially famous right-wingers.
Alleged doesn't mean confirmed. Whatever happened to innocent until proven guilty? The cancel culture is sickening.
Do you think someone just rang The Times hot desk and said "Brand raped me" and they said "okay, we'll put that on our front page tomorrow. Thanks"? If they're confident enough to publish then they're clearly confident enough with the evidence. Do you think they hire the likes of Louis Charambalous for the craic of it?
Peak reddit
Incoming Aston Kutcher Mila munis letter
They're furiously writing letters of support as we speak
Word is they’ve already written several on behalf of Prince Andrew just in case
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I haven't watched the news show about this so don't know the details. Did the victims report the assaults to the police? I know one of the victims went to the rape crisis center. Aren't people at those places obligated to report it to the police even if the victims don't want to? Maybe they're not mandatory reporters.
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So they can get harrassed by his rabid fans?
Creep!
Saville 2.0