Russell Brand Denies Sexual Assault Allegations
TimeOct 02, 2023
The Facts
Actor, comedian, and media personality Russell Brand has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and emotional abuse, according to a joint investigation published by The Sunday Times, The Times, and Channel 4's Dispatches.
Five women appeared in a recent Dispatches documentary discussing their claims against Brand — four of them remained anonymous. Their allegations date between 2006 and 2013.
The Spin
Narrative A
Brand was jettisoned to fame in an era of viciousness, when misogyny was celebrated and grotesque invasions of privacy were the norm; the comedian's risqué antics and disrespect for all boundaries put him at the pinnacle of popular culture. However, its clear now that the caricatured vision he presented to the world hid his attitudes towards women in plain sight. The willingness to turn a blind eye in the noughties to normalized, hypersexual behaviors enabled his behavior.
Narrative B
Brand's willingness to transgress in plain sight my have operated as a kind of shield, but his obviously inappropriate conduct — from the content of his comedy to the treatment of his colleagues — was deliberately ignored by establishments old and new. His behavior wasn't just 'of its time,' it was endorsed by politicians, the editors of Newsnight and Question Time, and even the Telegraph and the Guardian. Those individuals and organizations directly involved in giving him a platform should be held to account for facilitating his rise to prominence.
Establishment-critical narrative
Public and media reaction to the thin evidence so far presented against Brand reflects a concerning and continuing push towards "moral" censorship and deplatforming. That someone as prominent as the comedian can have his career effectively destroyed Prima Facie at this contrived scandal will only act to frighten other potential dissenting voices. Responses to Brand reveal the Orwellian erosion of presumed innocence in modern society.
