Okay, we've got some pretty big breaking news today because this morning, seemingly out of nowhere, Russell Brand for the first time has officially been charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault. And while allegations of this type are always highly contentious, this one in particular is more controversial than most because there's a lot more behind this than just the allegations that you're reading in the news. Because of who Russell Brand is and what he has been speaking about over the past few years, this case now has stitched into it politics, religion, conspiracies, celebrities, and allegations that are now up to 26 years old. So, the big question that a lot of people are now asking is why now? And what happens to him if he is found guilty? Well, Russell himself just posted a response to this news, so we'll get to see what he has to say about this whole situation. So, we're going to cover all of that. So, I guess let's stop the yapping and let's get I don't have a whip Okay, so if you clicked on this video, I very much doubt you don't know who Russell Brand is. So, I'll skip the whole background blurb and just get straight to the point. Now, for context, this is not the first time that Russell has been accused of misconduct. Throughout his career, he's spoken extensively about his drug addiction, sex addiction. I mean, he wrote a freaking whole book called My Bookie Wookie or some like that about the whole situation. One of the first, at least public allegations made against Russell Brand go all the way back till 2006 where in an interview Danny Manog said that Russell had sexually harassed her after she appeared on his TV show. She described him as a bit of a vile predator, adding, "I certainly don't think he has cured his sex addiction." and she said that Bran wouldn't take no for an answer. From 2006 to 2008, Bran received five complaints while he was working at the BBC. In 2007, his ex accused him of sexual assault and physical and emotional abuse during their six-month relationship. And there are a few more, but nothing much came out of these allegations made a while ago until a bombshell documentary came out in 2023. Now, this was really the thing that led us to the moment we're at now because The Sunday Times teamed up with Channel 4 to investigate and publicize all of these claims made against Russell between 2006 and 2013. The documentary was titled In Plain Sight, and they published allegations made from four women anonymously accusing Brand of sexual assaults and emotional abuse. And let me tell you, the reaction to this documentary was massive and global. Every media outlet was speaking about this around the world. And they also encouraged women out there who may have had similar experiences with Russell to come forward and speak out. One reaction following this documentary which was highly controversial was uh YouTube they suspended Russell from their partner program uh based on allegations alone. And this is something personally I haven't seen happen to anyone before Russell and after Russell. I mean, we've covered the whole Young Philly situation multiple times and, you know, he's actually being charged with rape, which is definitely one step further because, you know, it goes from allegations from the public to essentially allegations being charged by the actual police. And despite that, there's still no news about him being removed from the partner program. Now, this reason in particular, and of course, other aspects in the whole case huge speculation about why these allegations were being brought up now, because some of them from the documentary at least were from 2006, which is almost 20 years ago. Now, many of his fans speculated that this had something to do with his more recent political commentary that really gained huge attraction after the pandemic. As any of you who have seen Russell Brand stuff, he became very outspoken about the government, about politics, and he even said that he had to move a lot of his content away from YouTube because he complained about censorship. The Sunday Times themselves noted in this documentary that several of the accusers felt compelled to speak out given Bran's newfound prominence as an online influencer as opposed to his previous stuff which was more actor comedian. So we already seeing that separation between what he was doing before and what he's doing now and kind of what's been the result of that. Now, by far the biggest thing that has come out of this documentary, obviously, apart from his damage to his image, was that the UK police saw this and they said that they were going to step in and begin an investigation into the claims made against Russell. And you know what? For a while there, like, you know, it's been a year and a half, over a year and a half since that whole documentary uh released. A lot of people thought that not much was going to come out of it. But then this morning we woke up to the shocking news that Russell Brand has now officially been charged with rape and two counts of sexual assault. He is also being charged with one count of oral rape and one count of indecent assault. Now these charges relate to four separate women just like in the Channel 4 documentary. But here's what's interesting because as we mentioned earlier, those incidents allegedly happened between 2006 and 2013. But the incidents that he's actually being charged with today, well, they are allegedly from 1999 to 2005, meaning it doesn't appear that these are the same four women, rather four additional individuals. And they are certainly not the same events. One of the allegations is from 1999, which is now 26 years ago. And I mean even if you think about the country of where these allegations are made like for example here in America where I'm currently visiting they have something called the statute of limitation which says that in the case of allegations of rape between adults and there's no DNA evidence there's a limit of taking criminal action with the police for example of 10 years. However in the UK where these allegations are being made there is no statute of limitation. So a victim could hypothetically report to the police 90 years after the incident happened. Now, in addition to the charges he's facing in the United Kingdom, he's also facing a civil lawsuit in the United States. An individual currently suing Russell Brand claims that he followed her to a bathroom where he assaulted her while uh on the set filming the movie Arthur in 2011. The individual told the court, "As a result of the abuse, I suffered and continued to suffer extreme embarrassment, shame, and fear." And interestingly, just a few days ago, Russell actually pleaded with that court in New York. It is, I believe, asking the judge if this civil lawsuit could be put on pause and wait until the outcome of the criminal investigation that's happening in the United Kingdom, which kind of implies that he knew that this was coming to a head. So, what happens now? Well, we know that on the 2nd of May, he will appear in court where the charges will be formally read to him. And it's at that point where they will decide whether he can go out on bail or be put in jail until his next court date. In that next court date, he will likely plead not guilty since he has previously denied all allegations. And then if he does, he will then go before a jury. Now, I imagine this is going to be a long drawn out process. But if he is found guilty, he will most likely go to jail because of course the severity of these charges. And if he is not found guilty, well, then he will go free. And this is where it becomes seriously controversial because on the one hand, you got people saying things like, "He speaks out about the government on a daily basis and has done for years. Do you really think he's done these heinous crimes or is it the easiest way to destroy him? If you speak out against the system, they will attempt to destroy you. While on the other side, you have people saying that's why he went full-on religion. He is trying to say they are attacking me on my religion and politics. People got to realize him being against the elite was the griff to keep people on his side and to not trust the media when the allegations inevitably come to light and it's worked so many defenders. But what does Russell himself say on the whole situation? Well, about an hour after the news broke, he posted this on Twitter simply titled my response. Hello. Firstly, thank you for these incredible and overwhelming messages of support. We're very fortunate in a way to live in a time where there's so little trust in the British government. We're very fortunate, I suppose, that this is happening at a time where we know that the law has become a kind of weapon to be used against people, institutions, and sometimes entire nations that will not accept and tolerate levels of corruption that are unprecedented. I'm speaking particularly to those of you that are watching this in the UK. How do you feel about your legal system right now? How do you feel about some of the high-profile cases that are not being pursued and prosecuted? How do you feel that the Southport murders were handled? How do you feel about the government of Kama? Now, that's just sort of general context. Me, I've always told you guys that when I was young and single, before I had my wife and family, who were just out of shot over there, my beautiful children, I was a fool, man. I was a fool before I lived in the light of the Lord. I was a drug addict, a sex addict, and an imbecile. But what I never was was a rapist. I've never engaged in non-consensual activity. I pray that you can see that by looking in my eyes. And of course, I'm now going to have the opportunity to defend these charges in court, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. In the meantime, you lot, stay free, and we will be continuing to discuss this matter. But I guess that's all we have for today. Let's wait for the legal system to come to their own conclusions before we say innocent or guilty. Love you all. I'm still out here in America, but I will of course be here for the news roundup Monday or Tuesday. We'll see how things go. Uh but until then, I'll see