Ah, the tentacles of the police state and cancel culture are never far from the latest person to run afoul of virtue signaling sensibilities or a well funded dive into one’s past looking for what could be dirty dynamite for the justice mob and Kryptonite for the whole of one’s life. Allegations are, of course, to be taken at face value even if proven to be utterly false or maliciously manipulated.

This week’s victim and summarily anointed scumbag du jour is British comedian Russell Brand. I always been put off by his…lack of good breeding, shall we say…okay, he’s a pig…but his particular style of outright rude, scatological comedy has proven popular over and over again, and more power to him. It’s a free country here. And these particulars about him have been known for decades.

Brand has also become something of a conservative sensation – for all his Britishness – because of the stances he’s taken against vaccine mandates, etc., along with his outspokenness about government heavy handedness in general. His hugely popular YouTube show drew big numbers and pretty important luminaries as guests to opine. I will even admit I have watched a couple times, can say it was worth it for the most part, and not at all painful. I easily understand why it’s doing so well.

I can also understand why the powers that be hate him.

So it’s not surprising that there were serious efforts going on behind the scenes to find something, anything, to hang this guy with, and when you’ve lived the raunchy life, those things might well be there. As John detailed a couple days ago, for all the mess Brand’s life was, it still took some work to find – FIND, mind you – willing accusers and they went back over a decade to dig them up.

A joint investigation by British media outlets the Sunday Times and Channel 4 Dispatches has concluded that actor/comedian Russell Brand engaged in the rape and sexual assault of four women. The alleged incidents took place more than a decade ago when Brand was at the height of his fame. The Sunday Times article goes into each allegation in detail.

Of course, it’s gruesome and titillating and horrifying – all the things specifically designed to cause maximum damage to the intended target, and some of the revelations do have what seems to be solid ground under them.

But they are still accusations and Brand has denied them, and has not been charged with any crime.

Since when does that matter?

The dominoes of his income stream started falling quickly.

England’s Channel 4 was happy to self-flagellate for all the Brand content they’d shown over the years, even as they removed every trace of his work. The BBC was busy hitting DELETE DELETE DELETE, too. Yes, the same BBC with the child molester problem.

Channel 4’s boss has said the allegations against Russell Brand show how “terrible behaviour” against women has been tolerated in the television industry.

Alex Mahon, the broadcaster’s chief executive, said one of the most shocking elements of the documentary was seeing “what appeared on air not that long ago”, when broadcasters were happy to show footage of Brand making misogynistic jokes about sex.

…The BBC’s director general, Tim Davie, also said the BBC would conduct a review of Brand’s time there as a radio presenter between 2006 and 2008, while saying power imbalances in the media remain an issue to this day. “I just think we can’t be complacent. This is not just an issue that is wholly historic.

“There has been deep issues with misogyny and abuse of power, we need to be utterly vigilant, unaccepting of it, and create a culture where there’s trust that bringing information forward is treated very seriously.

YouTube yesterday did what everyone expected them to do – cut off the money.

Russell Brand demonetized on YouTube. And the new rule has been implemented: You will now get demonetized on YouTube if your off-platform behaviour “harms” its “ecosystem”.

I’m sure this economic censorship is going to be used only with extreme parsimony, and will never be… pic.twitter.com/IUX0kYiK6e

— Viva Frei (@thevivafrei) September 19, 2023

His paying content has been stripped out of the Beeb, as well.

Roman Polanski’s work is still available on most streaming services. They’re pretty selective in the “standards” they apply when it comes to deplatforming.

— Amygator 🐊 *not an actual alligator (@AmyA1A) September 19, 2023

The cancel mob cometh in full raging glory. Even in places where they don’t belong.

Today the CEO of streaming platform Rumble, headquartered in Canada and Longboat Key, FL, got a little letter from a British MP (member of Parliament). It reads like a pleasant inquiry with a healthy dash of “it would be a shame if something happened to that nice little business of yours” oozing between the lines.

“I am writing concerning the serious allegations concerning Russell Brand, in the context of being a content provider on Rumble with more than 1.4M followers…”

“…We would be grateful if you could confirm whether Mr. Brand is able to monetise his content, including his videos relating to the serious accusations against him. If so, we would like to know whether Rumble intends to join YouTube in suspending Mr. Brand’s ability to earn money on the platform…”

WOWSAHS

Just wowsahs.

To their great credit, Rumble threw it back in their faces.

“…We regard it as deeply inappropriate and dangerous that the UK Paliament would attempt to control who is allowed to speak on our platform or earn a living from doing so…

…We emphatically reject the UK Parliament’s demands.”

The attacks on Rumble are relentless, from all angles, and accelerating

Having the support of the people to defend what's right (constitutional values) is all I need to keep taking the punches and moving forward

I can never thank our supporters enough for getting behind us ❤️ https://t.co/lk7AhL0lsY

— Chris Pavlovski (@chrispavlovski) September 20, 2023

Brand and his accusers must both be given the chance to have that “adversarial” contest, as Glenn Greenwald said. That is for the parties to settle, evidence presented, and the truth to come out.

But for GOVERNMENTS to interfere internationally to basically erase someone – a private citizen – over unproven accusations and personal ones at that?

Since when do Western political officials have the power to impose extra-legal punishment on people for alleged crimes they've never been charged with? What gives US and UK officials the right to demand that tech companies remove or demonatize speakers? Our questions to the MP: pic.twitter.com/2DbNScup8e

— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) September 20, 2023

Oh, no.

No, no, no.