Why would he apologise if the claims were untrue?

I have yet to hear anything that convinces me that the claims are untrue. That he was proud of his behaviour is besides the point. The point is whether it was always consensual. Not sometimes or even most times but always.

Whether enough evidence can be presented to clear the relatively high bar needed for a criminal conviction, especially given the time elapsed, is yet to be determined. The CPS could easily refuse to allow a prosecution.

That though doesn’t mean Brand would succeed with a deformation suit.

Which would leave us all to reach our own conclusions. Which will be as divided as they always are here.

For the avoidance of doubt any comments in response to a previous post are directed to its ideas and not at any, or all, posters personally.

I think if this is all made up and one big ruse, he will clean up.

The usuals on here just don’t want to believe that his outing has nothing to do with his (admittedly sometimes laudable) anti-establishment stance because it doesn’t allow the conditions to bolster their political and ideological beliefs.

He’s always been an oddball. It’s not that big a stretch.

Did you know? 98.0000001% of people are morons.

You misread.

My position on rape has been pretty constant on Hol regardless of who was accused of it. That's independent of whether someone is on the right or left.

It's evidence based, something that is very hard to prove with this kind of crime.

Do I think that Brand is a rapist? I certainly doubt it. But how would I know. We will await developments.

However, I've already suggested what I think the outcome will be.

Anyway do I think that promiscuous people get themselves into dodgey situations and sometimes shag mentally unstable people?....certainly I've seen it happen.

They make the choices and them the breaks.

Does that make them a rapist? I doubt it.

However, as I say, it's my view that Brand is also the subject of bad faith actors mixed in with activism.

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

Proving rape can be cut and dried....usually a bloke forces himself on an unwilling woman using violence or his strength..or maybe she's unconscious and we all know he deserves all the anger and retribution that should come his way.

However, when that's not what's happened things can be complicated.....and as a social conservative I certainly don't approve of Brand's past behaviour as I've stated.

Let me present a nuance of what I was implying. It's just a reality that If you're going to be like Brand and you shag that number of people you're going to put your d1ck in crazy many times.

However, I didn't say that this means all these accusers are mentally unstable?....you misread...I didn't say that. It can be far more complicated.

Whose to say what the motives might be amongst all of them. It can be complex. The reality of subjectivity and in the moment decisions can mean that two people can have two different perceptions of an event. Sometimes even different before and after they occur....it's happened many times over the years. Taking a reasonable line on what went on can be complicated and it isn't always black and white.

Even the definition of what consent is and what someone can reasonably perceive can differ between individuals....cases like that have been seen many times in sex cases and can find themselves in the weeds.

At the simple level maybe he's done what you suggest and has raped women....or any of the descriptions that might be used for it.

Perhaps it'll all come out like that in court....or perhaps it'll end as I suggested.

Edited by Stirlingsays (19 Sep 2023 12.30am)

'Who are you and how did you get in here? I'm a locksmith. And, I'm a locksmith.' (Leslie Nielsen)

As I was never a fan or paid much attention to RB I have been quite surprised over the last few days with a re-hash of his career.

Most of the right wing papers are pointing out that RB at that time was a poster boy for the left. It seems quite amazing now that he was lauded by the BBC and C4 and many left wing politicians even though his misogynistic behaviour was out there in the open for all to see.

Peter Hitchens has pointed out that the BBC hired him in 2012 4 years after Sachsgate. Obviously lessons were learned NOT.

I guess it took the #MeToo campaign and RB's move away from the left (I have no idea what he stand for today and frankly don't care) before the TV companies started to distance themselves.

As for Ed Milliband what the hell was he playing at.

One more point

You can apologise for acting badly, but that does not imply criminal behaviour.
How many people have done things in their youth that in retrospect they know were ill judged?

Morality is not set in stone. It changes from one decade to the next. Sometimes from one year to the next.

The written law is rigid in terms of what you can and can't do, but the reality of people's behaviour is far more complex.

In Russell Brand's case, I feel that his attitudes and current political views have made him a target for the new puritanical identity politics zealots.

They will find ways to cancel you if you don't agree with them and irrespective of the outcome of this particular case, we need to resist their kind at all costs. His Youtube channel has already been restricted before any charges have been brought.

Edited by Hrolf The Ganger (19 Sep 2023 10.59am)