Well, it's not implausible.
I don't think there's any suggestion that Brand would have known the timing of the revelations.
But Brand will of course have been aware of his own historic behaviour. Brand will have been aware that other people were aware of his historic behaviour. Brand will have been aware of the Savile revelations and, perhaps more importantly, the Me Too movement. He may well have felt that it was only a matter of time before he was in the firing line and -- being quite a Machiavellian personality -- cut his cloth accordingly.
Furthermore, the newspapers have been investigating him for four years. They've been contacting his family, his friends, his associates and other connections. He will have been aware of that for some considerable time.
I'm not saying that is what happened. It's speculative. But dismissing it as a low IQ take on proceedings is a little silly.
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bozo_500 (13225)
a year ago
He must've known his time was up after the #metoo stuff of 2017/18, apparently the recent Times investigation began in 2019..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell_Brand#Sexual_misconduct_allegations
Early in 2019, The Sunday Times began inquires after being made aware of allegations of sexual misconduct against Russell Brand.[241] In 2022, Channel 4's Dispatches began working with The Sunday Times and The Times to investigate the allegations. On 16 September 2023, allegations were published from five women, four anonymously, accusing Brand of rape, sexual assaults, and emotional abuse between 2006 and 2013, following the joint investigation.
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capuchin (3269)
a year ago
Yup. I don't think it's at all unlikely he knew it was likely to come. I can easily imagine that his mind would be turning to those thoughts around the time of Me Too. And he will have become aware of the investigation because The Sunday Times contacted hundreds of people, many of whom will have still been in and around his circle.
Whether he built a populist YouTube channel and anti-establishment, anti-mainstream media persona on the back of that fear and knowledge will probably forever remain unknown. But it's far from a foolish theory.
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bozo_500 (13225)
a year ago
he was probably getting abit concerned after the Jimmy Savile/Yewtree stuff of 2012 onwards but probably too busy at the time in america doing the movies etc ..but after metoo he mustve been as you say very concerned
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Martoto (5054)
a year ago
He clearly understood that it was best to pick a side which automatically defines and rejects all criticism or scrutiny as political suppression.
And he'd been feeling the heat about his behaviour for years before his reinvention as an anti-establishment figure. It's not like he was clean as a whistle until he made enemies of the "liberal elite".
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