September 16, 2023

"As her taxi approached Russell Brand’s home, Alice remembers the driver begging her not to go inside."

"Recognising the destination, he had started to ask questions. Alice admitted she was 16 and still in school. She says the driver replied that his daughter was the same age and entreated Alice: 'Please, I’m asking you not to go in there, you could be my little girl, and I would want someone to do this for her.' He offered to take her home without charge, but Alice insisted she was fine.... During a relationship that lasted for about three months when Brand was a BBC radio presenter, she says that he referred to her as 'the child'..."

From "Russell Brand accused of rape, sexual assaults and abuse new/Four women, including one who was just 16, make allegations after an investigation by The Sunday Times, The Times and Channel 4 Dispatches" (London Times). 

In 2005, [Brand] received treatment for sex addiction at a clinic in the US. His womanising ways — he once said he could sleep with 80 women in a month — saw him crowned “Shagger of the Year” by The Sun three times, have relationships with some of the world’s most beautiful women including Kate Moss, and marry the pop star Katy Perry in 2010 (they divorced in 2012).... 
On their first date, [Alice] claims Brand asked her as soon as they met to confirm she was definitely 16, saying: “I don’t give a f*** if you’re 12 . . . I need to know where I stand legally.”...

16 was over the age of consent in the U.K. 

Before the first time they had sex, Alice says she told him she was a virgin and claims he was instantly aroused. “He was like, ‘Oh my God, my baby, my baby’, and picked me up and cradled me in his arms like a child and was stroking my hair. He’s like, ‘You’re like my little dolly.’”...  
Alice has decided to speak out because she now believes that she was too young to be able to consent to a relationship with an adult man, and that the law should be changed to protect those under 18. “My mum still feels like she failed me in some way in allowing this to happen, but she had no recourse at all,” she says. “It shouldn’t be legal for a 16-year-old to have a relationship with a man in their thirties. There should be something in place to protect children.” 
She also wants the entertainment industry to change. For many years, Brand has been applauded for his jokes describing how he has manipulated women for sex. “I think he was very skilful in the start of making his identity be, ‘I’m the womaniser. I’m a sex addict. I’m inappropriate but it’s all just a joke, it’s funny’,” Alice claims, “It’s a smokescreen for a lot more of his dark behaviour.”...
These allegations pertain to the time when I was working in the mainstream, when I was in the newspapers all the time, when I was in the movies, and as I’ve written about extensively in my books, I was very very promiscuous.

Now during that time of promiscuity, the relationships I had were absolutely, always consensual. I was always transparent about that then, almost too transparent, and I’m being transparent about it now as well, and to see that transparency metastasized into something criminal, that I absolutely deny, makes me question, is there another agenda at play?...

I’m aware that you guys have been saying in the comments for a while, “watch out Russell, they’re coming for you, you’re getting too close to the truth, Russell Brand did not kill himself”, I know that a year ago there was a spate of articles, “Russell Brand’s a conspiracy theorist”, “Russell Brand’s right wing”. I’m aware of news media making phone calls, sending letters to people I know for ages and ages, it’s been clear to me, or at least it feels to me, like there’s a serious and concerted agenda to control these kind of spaces, and these kind of voices, and I mean my voice along with your voice....

81 comments:

madAsHell said...

I really don’t know how one could communicate with an underage woman, and think they were sexy.

Joe Smith said...

Let's cancel everyone who bucks the liberal narrative.

Can't find a definitive answer, but the age of consent might be 16 in England.

madAsHell said...

Remind me......what is Russel Brands claim to fame?

RideSpaceMountain said...

Another day. Another Kavanaughing. Stear clear of sensitive subjects or they'll find women from 20 years ago to accused you of rape, at the same time. I fully expect something similar to happen when Rogan and RFK Jr. go rogue next year during the election. Watch.

The Crack Emcee said...

“My mum still feels like she failed me in some way in allowing this to happen, but she had no recourse at all. It shouldn’t be legal for a 16-year-old to have a relationship with a man in their thirties. There should be something in place to protect children.”

That used to be called a "Father". Say it with me: Fah-ther. They used to be everywhere.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

This is the flip side to “go woke go broke.” When people become unwoke and criticize the left the knives come out and suddenly victims are marshaled to create the impression needed to cancel the person. It’s very mafia-like in its enforcement of omerta.

Quaestor said...

“It shouldn’t be legal for a 16-year-old to have a relationship with a man in their thirties. There should be something in place to protect children.”

I suggest Alice is incompetent to level accusations at anyone. Being evidently unable to use appropriate singular pronouns, perhaps due to a congenital cognitive deficit, how can she be sure her experience involved Russell Brand and not a group of unidentified individuals that did not include Russell Brand?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

This could a situation where speech suppression is facilitated by a sketchy past. That's my first impression. Russel's good looks is both a blessing and a curse.

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

It’s probably been noted before, but sometimes the tags for a given Althouse post read like little avant-garde poems.

Yancey Ward said...

This was going to happen whether Brand is guilty or not- he made the wrong set of enemies on the Left, and this is a common counter-tactic the Left uses- see Brett Kavanaugh.

I don't know the other details from his other accusers, but the details on this one sound like Brand broke no laws, and if this is the one the media are going forward with, then I think the others are even less likely to be illegal acts.

Mason G said...

"There should be something in place to protect children."

But it'll still be okay for those children to have their breasts cut off if they choose, right?

Rusty said...

madAsHell said...
"Remind me......what is Russel Brands claim to fame?"
He could perform well while on heroin. Plus he was very funny.
But he's questioning the orthodoxy so he must be destroyed..

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Make no mistake. I think I mean, let there be no room for doubt. If they, speech suppressors, succeed with the Tates, the Brands and the Petersons, they will eventually come for me and you. Isn't that how it went down in Roman time?

Matthew 26:73 - After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them; your accent gives you away.”

For a more current version see Trump "they did it to me" verse.

Wince said...

Somebody wants to tarnish the Brand brand.

Temujin said...

Crack is right about the "Fah-ther" comment. It's a hugely missing piece to so much of what's going on. That said...

Brand is interesting in the tack his career has taken in recent years. His videos/podcast are very much on the attack of the elite power structures, institutions, and the media. Very aggressively using those attacks to attract a large, and growing audience. Thus, like so many others who do that and find themselves suddenly under attack, one has to wonder: Why now?

I don't excuse a grown man having sex with a young teen. But this guy was not parading around as a shining example of mature, honorable behavior. His 'brand' was that of a wild man. He played it out thoroughly. If he had sex with her, and she agreed to it, what legally is the issue?

You cannot outlaw people who are classless. We'd have no one to vote for.

madAsHell said...

They used to be everywhere.

......and we called them gentlemen as well!

gilbar said...

Alice has decided to speak out because she now believes that she was too young to be able to consent to a relationship with an adult man, and that the law should be changed to protect those under 18.

just to be CLEAR.. under US law (as opposed to British)..
a TWELVE year old is old enough to slice off her breasts to spite her face..
a TWELVE year old is old enough to chemically castrate herself because she is insane
a TWELVE year old is old enough to sew a piece of her leg onto her crotch and Pretend it's a penis
and (OF COURSE!!!) a TWELVE year old is MORE THEN old enough to have an abortion
IF a TWELVE year old can consent to ALL THOSE Things.. Why NOT this

ps. Yes, i know that she was 16, not 12; that makes it MORE Clear.. Don't IT?

Godot said...

“...There should be something in place to protect children.”

Right to Lifers have been arguing this for sometime now.
Her body, her choice yes?

Owen said...

I am assuming the veracity of these claims. It's horrible behavior.

But I can't help noting that we are being told to tolerate, even condone, the coaxing of kids 8 or 10 or 12 years old, to undergo permanent chemical and surgical mutilation because they are in touch with their true gender and fully competent to demand such interventions.

Cognitive dissonance alert.

Big Mike said...

It shouldn’t be legal for a 16-year-old to have a relationship with a man in their thirties. There should be something in place to protect children.

Unfortunately it appears that there are damned few 16 year old girls who don’t think they know everything there is to know. It is very clear that Alice knew exactly what she was getting into and charged ahead anyway.

Apparently Russell Brand limited himself to consensual sex with women at or above the age of consent. Note for feminists everywhere — you cannot retroactively revoke your consent to have sex just because you afterwards decide that you didn’t like the experience. The rape charges appear to be as bogus as the fantastical charges levied against Donald Trump.

Is it germane to point out that the age of consent in Italy is only 14?

That used to be called a "Father". Say it with me: Fah-ther. They used to be everywhere.

@Crack, right you are!

rhhardin said...

The age of consent is lower in the film industry.

William said...

What percent of teenagers and not just girls have idyllic experiences their first time out. This doesn't sound all that traumatic. I wonder how it compares with the experience of the girls on Epstein's Isle of Bliss, but, of course, those girls for the most part have been reticent about their experience....This story doesn't make Brand look good, but I suspect that there are far worse stories involving far bigger stars than Brand and that we will never hear those stories. Harvey Weinstein assaulted some of the most famous women in the world and got away with it for decades. How did that happen? Harvey Weinstein was a big fund raiser for the Democratic Party? Causality? Concurrence?

Josephbleau said...

Even after the years of the Rotherham child sex scandal the UK government did not change the age of consent, so regardless of the pleas of the victims, the UK does not consider 16 year old consensual sex a crime. The taxi driver’s testimony would support the fact that it was consensual. The other rape accusations would have their own facts to be adjudicated.

There is a strong pattern for accusations to surface in a seeming attack series for political purposes, that speaks to credibility, but by all means let it go to the courts. Courts are not always going to give you the true answer but they will provide The answer.

farmgirl said...

How old is Alice, now?
Did she think Brand would be a step on a ladder then?
It seems he’s going to be one now.

We may be able to change our minds over our acceptable/non-acceptable behavior in the past decisions of our lives, but it is bullish!t to hold everyone else accountable for those decisions we freely made.

She grew up.
She feels bad.

Move on…

Mason G said...

Meme:

Schrodinger's Feminist
A woman is simultaneously a victim and empowered until something happens. Then she chooses which state benefits her the most.

Narr said...

Legal is legal. If the little bimbo has regrets now, well, that's growth. And if he grabbed some of the pussy thrown his way, good on him.

Brand can be funny as hell, which would be enough to garner a large following, but he's also not in thrall to The Blob and that is a threat.



Tom Crippen said...

Alarmed by the talk here of a left-wing conspiracy to punish speech, took a moment to check if Rupert Murdoch is still owner of The Times. He is. Must now admit that the conspiracy is truly immense.

Mark said...

Most states in America would allow him to marry a 16 year old if he had parental permission.

She couldn't personally consent to sex, but if her parents signed the license she would be married.

But let's all worry about what she reads at the library.

Oso Negro said...

Oh my God! Someone has slept with a 16 year old in a place where that was perfectly legal and now she regrets it!! Install teeny penis cams on all men to verify whether their erections meet the standard Progressive Model. Let a board of feminist harpies decide whether the erection is allowed or denied.

Dustbunny said...

Age of consent in the UK is sixteen. A lefty who goes after the leftist elite is courting trouble.

JK Brown said...

As a 20-something Gen Xer opined in the early 1990s, the Boomers grew up to make everything they did illegal for their kids. And really it was the mid-Boomers who jacked up the legal drinking age in the late '70s, who made felons of kids smoking a little weed, etc.

And now we have the return of the teenage girl to "wards of the state" aligned with the opinion in Mueller v Oregon (1908) on why the hours of worked by women could be regulated.

Now, I'm 61, so I was trying to get a date with 16 yr old girls when Woody Allen was making 40-yr old men dating 18-yr old girls the center of 'Manhattan'. And weekly had to hear the creepy, I mean beloved, Sgt Esterhusu on 'Hill Street Blues" speak of his high school cheerleader girlfriend/wife.

But the Female Uncertainty Principle is a live and well. You don't know if the woman is able to consent until she has regrets years later.

But remember, boys and girls, it wasn't rape rape when Roman Polanski sodomized the 13-yr old girl at Jack Nicholson's house, even though she was drugged.

Joe Bar said...

"The father could not be reached for comment."

n.n said...

#MeToo, too, NOW?

Popular culture has ruled "move on".

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"Alice has decided to speak out because she now believes that she was too young to be able to consent to a relationship with an adult man"

The law in your country disagrees.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"I really don’t know how one could communicate with an underage woman, and think they were sexy."

I do. I coached women's gymnastics at the elite, international level. Literally thousands of young women over the course of many years and one of the most charming, intelligent, well-educated, funny and beautiful women I have ever met was 15-years-old.

Of course I never interacted with her in any way remotely inappropriate. But she was more mature in every way than any of the women I met in college, and a great many after that in the corporate world.

And while I have no idea what became of her, I would not be surprised to learn that today, she's an appeals court judge or a pediatrician or a best selling author.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

"But it'll still be okay for those children to have their breasts cut off if they choose, right?"

And vote for in national elections.

Free Manure While You Wait! said...

Quick second young girl story.

Years later, I worked with at-risk kids and parenting teen moms. I met one girl, from the Bronx (originally from PR) when she was fourteen who had just given birth. The man who impregnated her when she was 13 was in his mid-twenties Three years later, she tells me that the father of her child, now 27, was being released from a New York prison for something unrelated to her statutory rape. She's happy about his release and says to me, "He's a real nice guy, just like you." I didn't respond to that, but in my mind I was thinking, are you nuts? I'm not anything like that guy. Do you think I'd have sex with a 13-year-old girl???

Fifteen however...

Josephbleau said...

The fact that Brand worked for the BBC is some circumstantial evidence that he did do it though.

JAORE said...

C'mon Whoopie. Spring to his defense. The girl was older/above the age of consent and he didn't drug her.

Not even close to rape-rape, right?

Buckwheathikes said...

Obama's Husband Big Mike wrote: "Apparently Russell Brand limited himself to consensual sex with women at or above the age of consent. Note for feminists everywhere — you cannot retroactively revoke your consent to have sex just because you afterwards decide that you didn’t like the experience. The rape charges appear to be as bogus as the fantastical charges levied against Donald Trump."

I would remind you that Donald Trump was accused by E. Jean Carrol of rape. They held a trial. The jury ruled that Donald Trump didn't rape E. Jean Carrol.

Trump lost the case and was forced to pay her $5 million dollars.

We live in a post-law kingdom. Facts do not matter in this kingdom. Only might matters.

Roger Sweeny said...

Mason G 9/16/23, 1:14 PM

Wow

BUMBLE BEE said...

"Show Me The Money".

boatbuilder said...

"There should be something in place to protect children.”

You mean something like a taxi driver telling you exactly why you shouldn't do what you are planning to do, and you go ahead and do it anyway?

Clyde said...

Russell Brand went against the prevailing narrative. He must be punished, by any means necessary, or so say the purveyors of that prevailing narrative.

n.n said...

it wasn't rape rape when Roman Polanski sodomized the 13-yr old girl

He was making Whoopi (sic) in the socially progressive pathology. Midlife dysphoria? Greco-pedophile wrestling?

dwshelf said...

One can understand a +4 rule, but mature adult with 16YO is exploitive.

Gator said...

16 is the age of consent in the majority of states. People always say 18 because that is what it is in California

Leora said...

I notice that no one was interested in this stuff until he started agreeing with Joe Rogan.

Matt said...

It seems everyone here is misunderstanding the allegations. Brand is not accused of having sex with a 16 year old. He is accused of raping a women who happened to be 16. Many here are moving the goalposts and pretending like the outrage is that he had sex with someone who is under 18. No, that is not the crime. Read the allegations, please.

Sally327 said...

Apparently The Times, et al., started this investigation in 2019 so it wouldn't seem to have been motivated by any anti-Covid remarks Brand may have made. I think he's not the only target here, this is another one of those "open secrets" that everybody knew about and no one cared about. All those people who've hired him, etc., what did they know and when they did kmow it.

Dude1394 said...

Prove it. Got pictures? Video? I don’t trust any of the corrupt democrat media anymore.

Brylinski said...

Age of consent in each state: http://sol-reform.com/50-state-age-of-majority-v-age-of-consent/

In Wisconsin, it is 16.

Kirk Parker said...

Temujin,

"You cannot outlaw people who are classless. We'd have no one to vote for.[emphasis added]"

I'm searching for the downside here...

Kirk Parker said...

Temujin,

"You cannot outlaw people who are classless. We'd have no one to vote for.[emphasis added]"

I'm searching for the downside here...

Drago said...

Dumb Lefty Mark @1:51 once again comes out explicitly in favor of pornographic materials, including pictures of anal and oral sex, being made available to very young children in schools.

This is in addition to his supporting drag queens simulating sex acts in front of children and allowing non-parental adults speak in sexual detail with young children without parental knowledge.

But dont you dare call him a groomer enabler.

Ambrose said...

Brand has recently expressed some conservative opinions, so of course the usual folks are coming after him. We will be expected too be shocked, shocked.

Josephbleau said...

Does anyone remember rock and roll groupie culture, where big names had pass around sex with minors who were too stoned to know where they were at after the 5th time? I would think that many of these groupies are kind of proud they were able to count coup with the Jaggers of the world at 13 years. God, even the Beatles.

I guess it matters who you are, or what your politics is?

Narr said...

I want to know why the taxi driver thought his or her opinion was needed.

SUAD, asshole.

Lucien said...

Well, sure, he was playing by the rules and coloring inside the lines, but he got CLOSE to the lines, and only lefties are allowed to do that.

Lucien said...

Well, sure, he was playing by the rules and coloring inside the lines, but he got CLOSE to the lines, and only lefties are allowed to do that.

Craig Mc said...

Regrettable decisions are not rape. With agency comes responsibility.

That said, bonking an eager 16yo when you're in your thirties is just unseemly. I get the short term temptation, but remember if you break it you own it, and why would any adult want to effectively raise a 16yo partner? "Darling, have you done your homework yet?"

Also, Brand is an erratic nutter. Don't hitch your wagon to erratic nutters just because they agree with your POV today.

Joe Bar said...

She may have been above the age of consent, but, what about the "Creep Factor?". IIRC, the allowable age of your partner should be half of your age plus seven years. If he was 32 at the time, this should makes the allowable age 23.

Matt said...

Conservatives:
He fucked 80 women. Good for him getting pussy!

Also conservatives
She was 16 and had sex with a bad boy and claims rape. Slut!

traditionalguy said...

The Saint RBG argued for age 14 for child consent to sex with adults. She put the responsibility on the children for being available to the adults. Weird morality.

Making the Judeo-Christian rules of sexual morality the public enemy #1 seems to be the theme behind everybody’s opinion.

Narayanan said...

TBH >>> I have trouble telling apart Russell Brand and Keira Knightley when clean shaved!!

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

What Clyde said.

The corrupt left... they will stop at nothing to hold their corrupt power.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

The whole idea that a woman can decide consensual sex (or even regrettable sex ) can morph over time to RAPE! (any amount of time! even decades!) - (especially is there is money involved) is total abuse. Now - 16 is young - but if that is the law - that is the law.

Big Mike said...

He is accused of raping a women who happened to be 16.

Well, sort of. I think the idea is that he committed statutory rape because the age of consent should have been greater than 16 — they’re trying to spin it almost as though he’s trying to get off on a technicality.

I don’t know about the other three cases. Brand says they were consensual at the time; apparently the women involved are indicating that they retroactively disagree that they gave consent. Note that even if one or more of the other cases was plausibly nonconsensual, the fact that it’s lumped in with the case of the former 16 year old who had consensual sex with him sort of suggests that it is just so much additional bullshit.

Valentine Smith said...

Crack hit it right off the bat.

All Addiction results in moral issues. Some are reprehensible, most are at least problematic and all are self-destructive. Collateral damage always occurs, and way too often others are destroyed.

This is not the case here. Legality matters. The woman has an agenda and she clearly states it. I think it’s an admirable one.

Brand had to know that at some point he would have to pay the public piper. I admire his honesty, and his willingness to pay up and not surrender his forum. That there takes real courage. I do have to wonder whether he had ever approached her to express his regret. OTOH, he might not have known where she was.

Aggie said...

So if I understand this correctly, we are to be offended that a few years ago Russell Brand preyed sexually upon young girls. He did this legally, but to an extremely promiscuous extent, being careful to be up-front about not violating the law.

But if we want to be considered in the 'In' group of popular kids, we should carefully dial up our outrage to an extreme level by pretending that Brand is a pedophile sexual predator that preys on infants before devouring them, and punish him accordingly by cancelling him, driving him off social media, and destroying his career and any prospects for making money, because he's asking annoying questions about modern culture. Am I doing this right?

Josephbleau said...

“As the music industry reels over a bombshell lawsuit accusing Bob Dylan of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old, some can’t help but recall the infamous, horrific rumors about many a rock star whose alleged dirty deeds destroyed the lives of star-struck young girls.”

I hate to say it, but Dylan is as credibly accused as Brand is. Or Trump is. Sorry, but there it is.

Jamie said...

Brand is not accused of having sex with a 16 year old. He is accused of raping a women who happened to be 16.

Without subscribing, I can't get around the paywall. Is he accused of - excuse the term - rape-rape? Or statutory rape (seems unlikely given the age of consent)? Or rape with the use of drugs of some kind? Or what?

There is a difference. All the pull quotes from our host suggest that this "Alice" is the victim whose story is being told, and none of the pull quotes suggest that the act was anything other than consensual under the law - much as I have misgivings about consent when there is such a large age and power differential. From the pull quotes, it just seems as if this woman, then a very young woman, now regrets her decision to go forward. But again, I can't read the whole story.

Josephbleau said...

I read that Dylan’s case was dropped by the plaintiff, so let’s wait before we condemn Brand.

Drago said...

Matt: "Conservatives:
He fucked 80 women. Good for him getting pussy!

Also conservatives
She was 16 and had sex with a bad boy and claims rape. Slut!"

Pretend quotes make winning "teh interwebs" easy!

n.n said...

He fucked 80 women.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

She was 16 and had sex with...

Social progress.

Saint RBG argued for...

Keep women, and girls, affordable, available, and taxable, and her... their "burden" of evidence sequestered in darkness.

n.n said...

Now - 16 is young - but if that is the law - that is the law.

By democratic, presumably popular, consensus, no less, the establishment of a forward-looking religion, notably of ethical character. Bennies for babies, too.

Rusty said...

I think Matt's jealous.
80 women and every one of them consentual. And that's not even counting the men.
If you want to see this guys charisma get on YouTube and watch some of the interviews he does with female interviewers. Talk about moist. Brand is a playa!

Gator said...

Someone said age of consent is lower for adult films. Not only untrue it’s the opposite. You have to be 18 and California has the strictest consent laws due to the industry.

Dustbunny said...

Brand is bi-polar and has hyper mania. His show is called, Bipolarization. Combine that with drug and sex addiction and there are going to be some strange and unfortunate decisions made and likely not remembered by him.

Gk1 said...

Brand has fallen off the narrative trail and needs to be ruined after mocking Fauci, Big Pharma Covid scams and other uncomfortable topics it was only a matter of time. Promiscuous 16 year old women have reasons for regrets I'm sure but it's nothing anyone cares about any more. That ship has sailed.

walter said...

Per commentary here, no father involved.
But does mom have no say over social life of her daughter? Really?