To anyone who thinks it is alright to accuse, try, and condemn Russell Brand in the court of social media-conditioned mob opinion, I can only say this:
The same thing can happen to you. And it can happen to anyone else who becomes a thorn in the side of the political authorities Just ask Julian Assange. Mob justice has a long and colorful history as a political tool for the control of uppity citizens. The only difference now is that the mob is online.
The cynical victim blaming on some of these comments is quite frankly depressing. Reading them I could almost believe that Brand really was a naive young lad making a few innocent mistakes and when in fact he was and is an adult, a grown man.
How on earth do people think a self-declared sex-addict gets his next fix?
The so-called man of the people, supposedly left wing, an anti-capitalist standing up for all the little people and all while he rakes in a small fortune via his various online platforms.
Dr Katrin Hohl, Reader in Criminology states 99% of reported rape allegations in the UK do not end in a conviction. Cases take over two years to reach court, and 63% of cases are closed because the victim gives up and withdraws.
What is a Reader in Criminology? Is this the #Me2 Movement context for MSM claims? How many prosecutions are there for false & malicious accsations? Do you know what it's like to be falsely accused?
I always like to question why allegations come up in the media prior to police & judicial investigations ... then I 'follow the money' ... ! I don't know what Brand says, has done, or is or is not guilty of ... but I refuse to condemn someone until they've had their day in Court. I think it's the least we'd all expect if in his shoes ... or even in our own. I abhor injustice ... no matter who it concerns ... & when the mainstream media is involved, then I immediately question it even more deeply!
I gather police did investigate him over several complaints - none of them complaints raised in the original press stories (I wonder what happened to them).
Nothing since. Must have been innocent then, but still demonetised.
It is "childish" to listen to ALLEGED victims, but what else could one expect from you?
You grab the stick by the wrong end. Only because you like the cool bad guy for his non-mainstream political views, he may have assaulted women. As a crime writer who studies cases and the way predators' minds work, Brand talks and behaves like those we call dangerous.
If he is "dangerous", I must be REALLY dangerous. How do you write crime? I can tell that you act and behave like someone who is self righteous. And I did so just by reading your statement to JC.
To address point no.5, it is my understanding(& I could be mistaken) that these women were sought out by news station investigators.“Pointing this out does not mean one is condoning rape or sexual assault.”
I didn't follow Brand, or this story, but to my mind, if the media investigators 'sought them out' ... how did they even know what ladies to seek? Until one has had their 'day in Court' as I'm sure we'd all like to be assured of if verbally or legally charged with a crime, then it's up to all to stay out of it until the Court has made its decision. I'm sure that the matter wouldn't be allowed to 'be swept under the rug' once it's been so highly publicised ... so wait either for a legal outcome ... or he's innocent until proven guilty. My initial thought is to 'follow the money' in such media storms.
and of course right wing roots for Israel and the murder of Palestinian women and children. Yeah, I don't get it either. Seems to me that the paradigm should be left is total tyranny and right is total freedom as long as you harm no one.
Brand found a niche gap in the market and filled it by performing a cartoonish version of talking sesquipedalian Truthiness to people who wanted someone to speak some kind of Truth to Power: the fact that Power no doubt (as we now know) overheard it was good enough. He was not the first mainstream figure to say the unsayable (and I'd be willing to wager that the most unsayable things he sort of said are fairly unsayable here, as well), but he was early enough to get credit for doing it.
People had a real hunger to see mainstream (ie "credible") people reassure them that the World was, in fact, acting crazy: the ***Lockdowns*** (a carceral term, full stop) made him what he is, and lots of money, too. Brand's connections to the characters and institutions he appeared to be chiding/ exposing/ exploring prevented him from charming me, ever. And many marginal figures had been devoting their lives, doing much more clearly and bravely, what Brand was doing as minimally, and evasively, as he could and still make bank..
If RB really wanted to Let the Sunshine In, why not mention, or link to, wise old marginalized enemies of The Corporate State who've been at it, sincerely, forever? The ones with 1,500 followers and no health insurance and the kind of knowledge a university course, or two, could (in a better world) offer higher degrees in. The World is a dauntingly complex proposition, especially the 8/10s of it that no dares to talk about.
What they (THEY) did to Brand was called "give him enough rope". When the rug got snatched (in mid-gesticulation), they (THEY) left quite a few Brand Worshippers devastated, confused and absolutely humiliated. Imagine all the Normie smirks behind those bare-shouldered t-shirts at home, school, work. Yes, Brand still has his die-hards but I think he lost quite a chunk of disciples (and future dates). He did it for the adulation and the money. Maybe cuddle-chum Yuval "You're All Useless Eaters" Harari has a sofa-bed RB can sleep on when the wife starts distancing...
The Ruling Psychopaths loved ***Lock downs*** so much they (THEY) would like to play with them again, as quickly as possible (especially as the UFO nonsense is gaining traction only among the nuttiest of the nutties among the fewest of us). First they (THEY) need to clean up YouTube a bit more. A demonetizing bloodbath among the Limited Hangout brigade is coming, mark my wizened words. Jimmy Dore, you're next... ! Rogan.... ?
Or are they (THEY) even slicker than we could dream? Is this an engineered melodrama? A 36-month redemption arc? Will Brand come out of this, even stronger than he was before, as a Pied Piper of a magnitude we've never seen, urging his young followers (our kids) to get their brains COSMIC with a good Smart-chipping...?
He might not be guilty of a crime but he's a horrible man and social media is, by it's very nature, a popularity contest.
Of course Brand isn't the only problem here. It's BBC, C4, his management and the production companies who enabled him. But questions about that ARE being raised in mainstream media.
The implicit attitude of some commentators to the women who come forward is uncomfortably close to Alex Jones' labelling of the Sandy Hook survivors and relatives as crisis actors.
Russell Brand is in no way comparable to Julian Assange or Jeremy Corbyn. He is as much of a critic of capitalism as is Donald Trump or Andrew Tate.
I’ve come upon this rather late, but not too late to say “thanks”. It helps, and it needed saying.
#Me2 'we demand more convictions', even if they're innocent. To paraphrase Germaine Greer, "there is no such thing as an innocent man".
To anyone who thinks it is alright to accuse, try, and condemn Russell Brand in the court of social media-conditioned mob opinion, I can only say this:
The same thing can happen to you. And it can happen to anyone else who becomes a thorn in the side of the political authorities Just ask Julian Assange. Mob justice has a long and colorful history as a political tool for the control of uppity citizens. The only difference now is that the mob is online.
The cynical victim blaming on some of these comments is quite frankly depressing. Reading them I could almost believe that Brand really was a naive young lad making a few innocent mistakes and when in fact he was and is an adult, a grown man.
How on earth do people think a self-declared sex-addict gets his next fix?
The so-called man of the people, supposedly left wing, an anti-capitalist standing up for all the little people and all while he rakes in a small fortune via his various online platforms.
Dr Katrin Hohl, Reader in Criminology states 99% of reported rape allegations in the UK do not end in a conviction. Cases take over two years to reach court, and 63% of cases are closed because the victim gives up and withdraws.
What is a Reader in Criminology? Is this the #Me2 Movement context for MSM claims? How many prosecutions are there for false & malicious accsations? Do you know what it's like to be falsely accused?
I always like to question why allegations come up in the media prior to police & judicial investigations ... then I 'follow the money' ... ! I don't know what Brand says, has done, or is or is not guilty of ... but I refuse to condemn someone until they've had their day in Court. I think it's the least we'd all expect if in his shoes ... or even in our own. I abhor injustice ... no matter who it concerns ... & when the mainstream media is involved, then I immediately question it even more deeply!
Reads well 6 months on.
I gather police did investigate him over several complaints - none of them complaints raised in the original press stories (I wonder what happened to them).
Nothing since. Must have been innocent then, but still demonetised.
What a lot of narrow minded bigots we have in these comments.
Hold a mirror to your face and tell us all how you have you turned out?
I don't believe there are many people in this world who haven't done things they are ashamed of.
Brand speaks too much truth and has to be shut up. It's that simple.
It is "childish" to listen to ALLEGED victims, but what else could one expect from you?
You grab the stick by the wrong end. Only because you like the cool bad guy for his non-mainstream political views, he may have assaulted women. As a crime writer who studies cases and the way predators' minds work, Brand talks and behaves like those we call dangerous.
If he is "dangerous", I must be REALLY dangerous. How do you write crime? I can tell that you act and behave like someone who is self righteous. And I did so just by reading your statement to JC.
To address point no.5, it is my understanding(& I could be mistaken) that these women were sought out by news station investigators.“Pointing this out does not mean one is condoning rape or sexual assault.”
I didn't follow Brand, or this story, but to my mind, if the media investigators 'sought them out' ... how did they even know what ladies to seek? Until one has had their 'day in Court' as I'm sure we'd all like to be assured of if verbally or legally charged with a crime, then it's up to all to stay out of it until the Court has made its decision. I'm sure that the matter wouldn't be allowed to 'be swept under the rug' once it's been so highly publicised ... so wait either for a legal outcome ... or he's innocent until proven guilty. My initial thought is to 'follow the money' in such media storms.
Time should not be wasted on people who suddenly discover they're victims of abuses that happened a very long time ago. The end.
Or, wait until it's been to a judicial Court, not the Court of Social or Mainstream Media!
Absolutely. If they were "victims" they should have reported it IMMEDIATELY as soon as they escaped from him.
Thank goodness. Sanity.
I just think it's strange to label middle class liberals/capitalists "the left."
I think the whole left-right thing is out-of-date and meaningless.
A person is left-wing because he loves the war in Ukraine and roots for Zelensky to kill Russians?
A person is right-wing because he is alarmed at the open southern border controlled by Mexican drug cartels.
How stupid can it get?
and of course right wing roots for Israel and the murder of Palestinian women and children. Yeah, I don't get it either. Seems to me that the paradigm should be left is total tyranny and right is total freedom as long as you harm no one.
Brand found a niche gap in the market and filled it by performing a cartoonish version of talking sesquipedalian Truthiness to people who wanted someone to speak some kind of Truth to Power: the fact that Power no doubt (as we now know) overheard it was good enough. He was not the first mainstream figure to say the unsayable (and I'd be willing to wager that the most unsayable things he sort of said are fairly unsayable here, as well), but he was early enough to get credit for doing it.
People had a real hunger to see mainstream (ie "credible") people reassure them that the World was, in fact, acting crazy: the ***Lockdowns*** (a carceral term, full stop) made him what he is, and lots of money, too. Brand's connections to the characters and institutions he appeared to be chiding/ exposing/ exploring prevented him from charming me, ever. And many marginal figures had been devoting their lives, doing much more clearly and bravely, what Brand was doing as minimally, and evasively, as he could and still make bank..
If RB really wanted to Let the Sunshine In, why not mention, or link to, wise old marginalized enemies of The Corporate State who've been at it, sincerely, forever? The ones with 1,500 followers and no health insurance and the kind of knowledge a university course, or two, could (in a better world) offer higher degrees in. The World is a dauntingly complex proposition, especially the 8/10s of it that no dares to talk about.
What they (THEY) did to Brand was called "give him enough rope". When the rug got snatched (in mid-gesticulation), they (THEY) left quite a few Brand Worshippers devastated, confused and absolutely humiliated. Imagine all the Normie smirks behind those bare-shouldered t-shirts at home, school, work. Yes, Brand still has his die-hards but I think he lost quite a chunk of disciples (and future dates). He did it for the adulation and the money. Maybe cuddle-chum Yuval "You're All Useless Eaters" Harari has a sofa-bed RB can sleep on when the wife starts distancing...
The Ruling Psychopaths loved ***Lock downs*** so much they (THEY) would like to play with them again, as quickly as possible (especially as the UFO nonsense is gaining traction only among the nuttiest of the nutties among the fewest of us). First they (THEY) need to clean up YouTube a bit more. A demonetizing bloodbath among the Limited Hangout brigade is coming, mark my wizened words. Jimmy Dore, you're next... ! Rogan.... ?
Or are they (THEY) even slicker than we could dream? Is this an engineered melodrama? A 36-month redemption arc? Will Brand come out of this, even stronger than he was before, as a Pied Piper of a magnitude we've never seen, urging his young followers (our kids) to get their brains COSMIC with a good Smart-chipping...?
Only Time (and our Media Crushes) will tell.
Jonathan. A few thoughts.
He might not be guilty of a crime but he's a horrible man and social media is, by it's very nature, a popularity contest.
Of course Brand isn't the only problem here. It's BBC, C4, his management and the production companies who enabled him. But questions about that ARE being raised in mainstream media.
The implicit attitude of some commentators to the women who come forward is uncomfortably close to Alex Jones' labelling of the Sandy Hook survivors and relatives as crisis actors.
Russell Brand is in no way comparable to Julian Assange or Jeremy Corbyn. He is as much of a critic of capitalism as is Donald Trump or Andrew Tate.
Say WHAT? So you have decided RB is a horrible man? And Trump is a critic of capitalism?