Right-wing conspiracists flock to support Russell Brand and counter sexual assault allegations

Several far-right influencers and commentators have hopped on the support band wagon for Russell Brand after the British comedian-actor vehemently denied all sexual assault allegations made against him. Following the release of a joint investigation by The Times of London, The Sunday Times and Channel 4, Brand questioned the media’s intentions, thus opening the door for conspiracy theorists to challenge the claims made about him. 

“Is there another agenda at play?” Brand asked in his video response to the investigation, which spotlights several allegations of sexual assault, abuse or rape. Brand’s video was uploaded on YouTube, X (formerly Twitter) and the conservative video site Rumble. In addition to denying the allegations, Brand asserted that his previous sexual relations have been consensual.

Elon Musk, the owner of X, quickly defended Brand, claiming the allegations were made because of Brand’s long-standing skepticism of the media.   

“Of course. They don’t like competition,” Musk replied to Brand’s video.

In the same vein, Fox News host Tucker Carlson drew parallels between the allegations and Brand’s prior conspiracy theories on issues like COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine: “Criticize the drug companies, question the war in Ukraine, and you can be pretty sure this is going to happen.”

Conservative political commentator Ben Shapiro questioned the timing of the allegations’ publication, saying the media once championed Brand when he “was pretty flagrantly and obviously not only promiscuous, but incredibly vile in the sorts of things that he said publicly about sex and about women.” Shapiro said Brand was “a hero of the left at this time” and “treated as some sort of person to emulate at this time.”

That treatment, Shapiro claimed, only changed “when Russell Brand has fixed his life and is trying to make a better life for himself.

“And all I can imagine here is that Russell Brand crossed a particular political line that, if he had still been on the right side of the line, the media definitely would not have been going after him,” he continued. “Because you have to — you do have to learn about the motivations. What exactly changed?”

Fellow conservative commentator Jordan Peterson offered his support on X, where he posted a link to an article in the Sunday Times and said, “Someone wants @rustyrockets [Brand] destroyed.” Disgraced media personality Andrew Tate also tweeted, “Welcome to the club @rustyrockets,” alongside a picture of a cartoon knight with the caption: “On my way to fight the crazy b**ch allegations.”

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This isn’t the first time Brand has appealed to conservative fans. Brand frequently spewed far-right rhetoric and takes on his YouTube channel, which boasts 6.6 million subscribers. In the wake of the allegations, YouTube announced in a statement that it had “suspended monetization” on Brand’s channel for violating its “creator responsibility policy.” 

Brand also has 11.2 million followers on X and 1.4 million followers on Rumble, making him one of the most-followed accounts on the platform.

On Saturday, four women — including a 16-year-old — accused Brand of sexual assault, rape or abuse, with addition women coming forward Monday with further allegations, The Times reported.