How Russell Brand Will Be Convicted Of Rape (And Why He Shouldn’t Be)
Until around 2014, Russell Brand was best known as a comedian. It would be fair to say that although he was popular with certain audiences, he wasn’t a very good comedian, and some of his antics were in extremely poor taste. The nadir of this poor taste was unquestionably the October 2008 phone call he and his chum Jonathan Ross made to the actor Andrew Sachs in which Brand boasted of having sex with the actor’s granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. Rather than sex, Ross used a somewhat stronger word, one beginning with the letter f.
Brand was Shagger of the Year from 2006 to 2008, a tabloid award, and perhaps surprisingly married the American singer-songwriter Katy Perry in 2010. That marriage didn’t last, something that is far from unusual when both spouses are high profile show business types, but his second marriage has so far lasted eight years and appears to be permanent. He is now the proud father of two young daughters and a baby son.
The most notable thing about Brand is his reinvention. He is now living in the States for the most part, but last month flew back to Britain twice to appear in court to face serious charges of a sexual nature, in particular he has been accused of rape, oral rape and sexual assault against a total of four victims. The oldest charge, the rape charge, dates to 1999 in Bournemouth - where Al Stewart lost his virginity according to his epic song Love Chronicles.
As ever, one is entitled to ask why the alleged victims didn’t report these violations at the time. The obvious answer is that they didn’t happen at the time, they didn’t happen at all except in the tiny minds of demented and at times malicious females.
This is not to say that all historical allegations are false; there can be bona fide reasons for their non-reporting, the most obvious being that the alleged victim was very young or was in some way dependent on her violator, But, as far as we can tell, none of Brand’s accusers falls into that category, they all appear to be young women who were what our American cousins sometimes refer to as cleat chasers - attractive girls who pursue sportsmen for sex. Groupies is probably too strong a word, but many of these encounters are sordid - in a public toilet perhaps - and when the alpha male moves on to another conquest, resentment and regret often follow, including rewriting history.
The allegations against Brand are doubly suspect because in the first instance they arose not from a police investigation but from a joint investigation by two UK media outlets.
What is perhaps a little surprising is that there are - to date - only four accusers. Will Russell Brand be convicted? Here is a discussion of the case from October 2023; this includes some wise words from a woman who saw Brand in his comedian days and was unimpressed with both him and his female fans. If Brand’s trial goes ahead, it will be next year at the Central Criminal Court, and if you are not familiar with the argument the prosecution will use summing up, it goes something like this.
“This powerful man used his fame and standing to abuse women. You have heard in this case from four young women who have all shown great courage to come forward. None of these victims know each other, so unless this is a conspiracy - ho, ho, ho - Russell Brand is guilty as charged”.
Now here is a brief refutation of that fallacious argument that uses actual video of a false allegation against a police officer. After watching it, ask yourself how much trouble this officer could have been in but for that dash-cam.
As usual, Russell Brand’s accusers are anonymous, but their identities will be made known to his legal team. If he hasn’t already done so, he needs to engage the services of a top class investigator. If Rolf Harris hadn’t, he would not have died a free man. It is not impossible that some of these allegations might be refuted by chronology, meta data, or even CCTV.
Leaving that aside, the legal authorities need to stop pursuing these and other ludicrous sexual allegations, especially when real and far more serious ones were ignored, covered up for decades, or even lied about for the most ignoble of reasons.